Warm Snow (Completed Story)

T h e m e S o n g: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=video&cd=2&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjE2dvyq73RAhVI6YMKHXVnCrwQtwIIIDAB&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DxKGmoyuUvyU&usg=AFQjCNHf0TGAUQ0SFnCIgC7krAlxNHJAbQ&sig2=ahrgs0kTJEjHPUaCGPxelQ

P R O L O U G E

C h a r a c t e r s I n t r o d u c e d :

Molotiya - Unofficially

Rahkama - Unofficially

The icy cold snow cascaded down in their small, mysterious and odd flakes, speckling the midnight sky. The trees gently swayed in the iced rain's fall. A mysterious, yet somehow beautiful, slender wolf silently stepped under the bathing moonlight. Her eyes were a lovely purple, but delicate tears of blood fell down from her eyes. The mysterious wolf faded from sight, pure white tail oscillating gently, and paws drawing something in the thin blanket of soft, white fall. The drawing was being drawn on it's last line, when the odd wolf faded completely. A single, yet tiny droplet of blood dripped onto the middle. The owls above screeched as if they were furious at this. One owl, young and fragile, swooped down, her blind eyes blinking. The owl bent down, digging her beak into the drawing in oddity. It's shrill cry felt like it rumbled the delicate snowfall, wings flapping until it was airborne again. It closed it's eyes, then opened them again after a few crisp seconds. Unlike she had been, ever since birth, the owl could see. Her speckled feathers almost burst to joy. Yet, the image faded, and though she could still see now, Her eyes stayed white. The owl flew high in the cloudy night, swooping, gliding.

C H A P T E R 1

C h a r a c t e r s I n t r o d u c e d :

Narshai

Hixlaroh

Jinx

Rahkama - Officially

The snow cascaded down on a fox and an owl. Both were adults. "Rahkama, do you enjoy the snow?" The fox rasped. An owl chick, offspring of the owl, scuttled around in the snow. Rahkama, The grown owl, had pure white, sad eyes. "Narshai, I do." Rahkama slowly murmured. "Hixlaroh, careful." Narshai's narrow snout moved little as she said this. The small owl chick looked at Rahkama. "But..." She whispered, breath frosting in the cold air. "When has it last stopped snowing? It felt like ages ago..." Narshai's head tilted. "Hixlaroh, I mean it." Rahkama finaled to her chick. Hixlaroh's sharp talons made prints in the snow as she waddled up to her mother. Narshai's swollen belly made her getting up a small struggle, standing. Her tiny footprints were almost invisible in the thick snow. Rahkama followed, her chick hopping after.

They walked into a crowded, almost snowbound cave. There were many animals. A large wolf glanced at Narshai. "Welcome back, Caretaker Rahkama and Narshai. And of course, Youth Hixlaroh." One huge black shadow welcomed them in. "Hello, Zinlia Jinx." Narshai rasped. "Do not seem so official, Caretaker Narshai." The shadow, Jinx's mouth moved barely, almost completely appearing not to fit the words. Nobody smiled at his sarcasm. Jinx dissapeared in an almost creepy way, shadow tearing to bits and flying to the center and dissapearing.

"Will the snow ever stop, mommy?" Hixlaroh chirped, staring out from their warm cave. "It's been snowing long before you were born, Hix, And I doubt it will." Her mother murmured in despair. Hixlaroh cocked her fluffy head. "Can I ever go out there and explore? Can you at least tell me about what's out there?" She longed to stare out at the lovely white blanket forever, to play in it, to feel it's odd tingling on her feathers. "I can tell you what's out there. But to explore out there, is something forbidden. There are little spots of snow, about a mile long and wide every single spot, that have, warm snow. We live in one. They are the only places that the snow can sustain creatures, for there is not a night or day, even if you wait fortnights, that snow does not fall. But it doesn't drown us, you see, dear? Out of our warm snow circle, it's so deep, and so dangerous. We don't know why there is warm snow, though, Hixlaroh." The mother owl murmured softly at her chick.

"It sounds dangerous, mother. But will I ever leave this warm snow spot? Am I, forever to stay here? I hear Jinx goes out all the time." Hixlaroh chirped, staring longingly up at her mother's warm face. "There's magic in every warm snow spot, every flake has magic. Jinx handles that magic to survive out there, and make sure we're all safe. He's a wonderful leader. But the magic will slowly corrupt anyone who uses it. Which is why, Jinx takes it all. He doesn't want us to die. You should stay here, as long as you can, Hixlaroh." She softly breathed.

"But mother, I want to explore. I want to, be like Jinx. But is the magic corrupting him? Is that why he's a shadow? Some of the females talk about how Jinx used to be a handsome young wolf." Hixlaroh's eyes softened. "Yes. He was likely to have many pups and a beautiful wife. But he did this, he saved us all, at the cost of all his form and all his looks. You see, back when he was a wolf, another opposing tribe, from a warm spot many'a mile away, was attacking, because they wanted more warm snow to use as territory, one could say. Back then, nobody, no tribe, would be daring enough to use the magic from the snow. We were all doomed. Back then, I was just a chick. I was blind, you see?" Rahkama hushed her chick, hinting her white eyes.

"Jinx risked his life, his lovely form, all his life and pride, and used the corrupted magic. He fended them off, and nobody dares oppose our tribe because of his magic. That's howcome he's leader, my dear. Now, now, let's get away from the cold winds that are blowing in. Let's go play with the others, would you like that?" Rahkama lightly groomed her child's head. "Alright..." Hixlaroh sighed, eyes flashing at the delightful blanket that lay outside. She and her mother walked back in, deeper into the cave. There were wolves, foxes, birds of prey, cats of all sizes, rats, mice, and so many more. Hixlaroh glanced around, finding a group of fellow youth playing around nearby. "I wonder, if there wasn't so much snow, all the rats and mice, and wolves and foxes, wouldn't get along. I wonder if chaos would break out, because there would be no need to work together." Hixlaroh asked herself, waddling over to the others.

C H A P T E R 2

C h a r a c t e r s I n t r o d u c e d :

Zurr

Yashm

Juun

Lohkun

"Hixlaroh, you have such a big advantage over us!" A mouse whined. "B-But Zurr, I wanna play, too." Hixlaroh shuffled her thick talons. "Fine. But try and go easy, okay?" A different mouse that had a tan pelt with white splotches here and there scuffled, whiskers twitching. Narshai laughed from the corner, supervising the youthful creatures. "Got it!" Hixlaroh chirped, jumping a bit. "So, who all is playing, Juun?" She added to the little white-splotched mouse.

"Me, Zurr, I'm guessing you, and also Yashm." The little tan mouse replied. "Awwight. Where's Yashm?" Hixlaroh stared into the little mice's eyes. Before anyone could speak, a thick young leopard cub strutted up. "Huh-ere!" The little snow leopard grinned. "Good, Yashm. Now, what should we all play?" Zurr mused.

"How 'bout, Tag?" Yashm smirked. "Tag? You're so on!" Juun squeaked, running in a circle. "Who's it first?" Hixlaroh cocked her fluffy head. "Ee'll be first." Yashm's whiskers twiddled a bit. "Alright... 3, 2, 1, GO!" Zurr laughed, and everyone bolted away from the it.

Narshai shook her head with a smile, when Juun hid behind her and Yashm was chasing Hixlaroh. Juun grumbled as Narshai pushed her out from behind her, making Yashm see her and direct his attention to her, instead. Yashm leapt, stumbling and failing to get her as Juun scampered out of the way. He scoffed, looking at Zurr, who he sprinted at. "Zurr's it!"

Before another even mumble of a word was spoken, the ground underneath everyone's feet rumbled for a few seconds. A few inquired to others what it possibly could've been. "Where's Jinx?" Lohkun, a beautiful she-wolf, sibling to Jinx, commanded. "I hear he's been out of the snow spot recently." Rahkama answered swiftly. Lohkun snorted, shaking her head in anger. "Seriously? I need to talk to him about the rumbli-" She was interrupted by a cold feeling. Jinx.

He was printed onto a nearby wall. Little shreds of shadow formed into a wolf. "Jinx, did you feel that rumbling?" Rahkama inquired. Hixlaroh and the other youth had stopped playing, confused and worried. "Yes. That is why I returned. It was a mere shifting of the plates of earth; A small earth-quake. It ruptured some of the snow, but that's all." Jinx spoke clearly, yet his mouth barely moved, yet not at all following his words. His shadow seemed fainter than usual. "Jinx, did the moving of the snow hurt your ability to show yourself as a shadow?" Hixlaroh chirped with worry plastering her voice to be quiet.

"Yes." Jinx answered the chick. He slowly faded. "Jinx left. He's probably going to sleep, to regain power." Lohkun sighed. "Good grief..." Narshai rolled her eyes as she whispered this. Everyone went back to their business. Hixlaroh saw nobody was looking, and waddled over to the exit. The snow was as thick as any other time of the day. She made sure nobody was looking, hopping her way out. Hixlaroh flapped her wings, becoming airborne, which was something she only recently learned how to do.

Her wings felt the cold air, and her feathers were brushing past slickly in the air pressure she was flying at. She was planning on seeing what was outside the snow spot. The snow was falling, speckling her brown feathers, and it was warm. As she was aiming for the far reaches of the snow spot, the snow started getting cold, and the winds were growing harder, making flying a bit more of a struggle.

She began loosing her straight as the wind defied her every flap. The snow was now freezing cold, just like ice, like it was suppose to be. It tingled and began hurting and getting sore in some places, as the wind also was making it hard. Hixlaroh breathed violently, shutting her eyes tight. She felt the strength draining from her wings, beginning to fall. Her talons gripped tight, plummeting into the snow.

She lay there. Hixlaroh was on the brink of the cold snow. "Why did I have to do this... It took me an hour to get this far, and now, I might die." She whispered, falling unconsious.

C H A P T E R 3

C h a r a c t e r s I n t r o d u c e d :

N/A

Snow felt cold on her, awaking. She hadn't been unconsious long, as she was only semi-buried in it. Her strength wasn't at all returned, slowly stumbling up onto her talons. Hixlaroh never had been the most talented flier. Her eyes glanced around, seeing where she had actually fainted, being a few feet away. She stumbled over to it, the border between the cold snow and warm snow. Hixlaroh touched the borderline's snow. It surprised her. It wasn't cold, it wasn't warm, it didn't have any temperature at all. It felt like nothing, it felt cold, hot, and nothing at the same time. Hixlaroh got shivers from it's odd feeling.

She looked up at the sky. For the first time in her entire life, she saw something. The sky was blue instead of light-grey. Hixlaroh's eyes widened. The clouds tore into a ravine-like shape, and on the border, it was like a sunny day, and no snow fell. Hixlaroh collapsed, staring up at the brightness of it. She rolled over. For hours she just lay there and admired it. Her strength had returned rather fast, as she stood. "I'm going to see what's above the clouds, no matter what." She whispered, bursting up into the air. Hixlaroh was soaring up towards the sky, and the air was getting thinner.

Hixlaroh gasped. The second she passed above cloud level, the clouds had turned invisible. Instead of the barren, snowy wasteland she normally would see from this height, it was green, with blossoming trees. No snow fell, and it was dry. "Is this how it would look... Without snow?" She gasped, eyes twinkling as she stared at the long grass flowing at the wind's pace. Her wings trembled, air still so thin it hurt her lungs. Awe-stricken, Hixlaroh stared for hours, seeing her cave, and flowers. The thin air finally got to her, beginning to fall. But Hixlaroh didn't seem to care. As she fell through the clouds, Her feathers got soaked, and the snow was still falling. She was back in the real, cursed, snowy world.

She expected to fall into the thick snow, and die. Hixlaroh was too shocked to do anything. The second she hit the ground, expectantly to die, she felt something cold on her back. "Jinx!" Hixlaroh gasped, snapping back into her senses. "Hixlaroh, what were you doing? Everyone is worried and you were going above the clouds." Jinx scolded, having caught her. "I... I..." Hixlaroh sighed. "I've been watching you, the second you left the cave. It was brave, but that was not right. Come now." He carried her back to the cave.

As Jinx carried her, Hixlaroh could only think of what she had just saw, and how wonderful it had been to her. The snow speckled her feathers, but she didn't care. Jinx though, had such a cold presence, it might have been colder than the cold snow, she kept thinking. "Why are you cold, Jinx?" She asked hesitantly, staring at the shadowy figure that just barely existed. Jinx stayed silent, continuing to carry her.

The cave came into eyeshot rather fast. Jinx was walking slower than when he had began. Rahkama ran out when she saw them walking towards their cave. "Hixlaroh! Jinx!" She cried out loudly, and stopped in front of them. Her massive eyes were frightened and worried. Hixlaroh hopped off Jinx, waddle-treading through the snow to Rahkama with a guilty look in her amber eyes.

"Hixlaroh, never do that again... Jinx, how'd you find he-" Rahkama was interrupted by a huge rumble in the ground. Jinx seemed distressed suddenly, his shadow slightly shredding when this rumbling happened. It then started to shake back, and forth. The snow parted, almost, just slimly not, showing the underearth that resided under the snow. Hixlaroh hyperventilated, looking at Jinx in confusement. Jinx wasn't saying a word, but was shredding and re-forming almost every second.

C H A P T E R 4

C h a r a c t e r s I n t r o d u c e d :

Molotiya - Officially

This constant rumbling kept going, not even when it would've seemed if it was an earthquake would've opened up the ground already. "R U N I N S I D E!" Jinx's voice seemed torn violently, and was louder than he had ever raised it before. Hixlaroh cringed, being dragged violently in by her mother. Inside the cave, it wasn't rumbling at all. Everyone seemed calm, as if nothing was happening. "W-Wha..?" Hixlaroh whispered, staring outside. The second they had gone inside, a figure had appeared.

A lovely she-wolf, with delicate purple eyes were tearful with droplets of blood constantly, was standing there with Jinx. They silently stared at each other, for what felt to Hixlaroh like an eternity. The she-wolf gave a smile, a very faint one, and the lines of the staining blood on her fur that was always coming from her eyes didn't cease. "J i n x." She whispered, just loud enough for Hixlaroh to hear. "Molotiya, leave. You aren't suppose to be here." Jinx snarled, mouth still not fitting his mouth.

"B u t J i n x , I A m H a r m l e s s." Molotiya said as if she really meant it. Jinx didn't reply fast at all. "The warmth of the snow spots is not to be used." He ordered, as if he knew something. " B u t Y o u U s e I t." Molotiya stepped closer to him. "I use it for my tribe's good. You will use it for evil. I will not allow it." Jinx snapped, shadowy tail lashing.

"Molotiya, you've stolen too many warm snow spot's warmth from their inhabitants many times. But this warm snow spot has a defender, and you will not steal this warmth if I can help it." Jinx snarled. "B u t W i t h T h e M a g i c, I, I, I, I, C a n R u l e, A n d F i x The C u r s e!" Molotiya begged. "You've told every defender that, and they each fell for it. By now you'd have the power. All your doing is stealing the magic and storing it away." Jinx commanded.

They went silent for a moment. Molotiya's blood tears still were falling into the snow. "Molotiya, storing and stealing the magic is hurting you. Why do you think you always are crying blood, even when you're happy?!" Jinx burst out in a shout. Hixlaroh listened silently from the cave, but nobody else seemed to care about the shouting outside. Jinx stepped until he was only inches away from Molotiya.

"I W i l l S t e a l Y o u r W a r m S n o w S o m e d a y, J i n x. A n d W i t h I t ' s P o w e r, I S h a l l L i v e, L i v e" She hesitated for a brisk second. "F o r e v e r." Molotiya whispered, her breath icing as it was forced out of her nose. Hixlaroh narrowed her massive eyes. Steal the warm snow? Steal everyone's chance of surviving?

Hixlaroh felt a horrible feeling in her chest as Molotiya began dissapearing. She looked down at herself, gasping. Hixlaroh was fading as well, but when she looked around, nobody seemed to notice her fading or be fading themselves. She began panicking, and ran out to Jinx, who looked at her. His eyes widened. "Hixlaroh, you-" He whispered, shadow trembling.

Jinx looked downwards, going silent. Hixlaroh completely dissapeared in shocked silence. She shut her eyes tightly. "Help me!" She screamed, but she was in a void when she opened her eyes. Hixlaroh looked around, but as far as her massive amber eyes could see, there was just blackness. "Where am I!? Help me, Someone!" Hixlaroh screeched. Her voice didn't echo, it barely even was hearable as it couldn't travel.

"Hello?" A voice called. Hixlaroh gasped, hearing the faint voice and struggling towards it. Her eyes were strained to see, but she could see a little white dot in the distance. The voice was going towards her. For a strong several minutes, she just aimed to reach the dot. When she finally was close, it was a wolf pup. A wolf pup with lovely blue eyes and a coat that was silky and beautiful. "Hello..." The wolf pup looked up into Hixlaroh's amber eyes.

"Why are you here? Why are we here? Do you know?" She begged, feeling bad. What if that wolf pup had been here for a long time? That would've been terrifying. "I... Don't know..." The wolf pup looked down hesitantly. "What's your name, then? I'm Hixlaroh." The owl chicklet murmured in distress.

"I'm Molotiya"

C H A P T E R 5

Hixlaroh was utterly shocked. Wasn't Molotiya that GROWN wolf, threatening to steal their warm snow? "Why are you in this void?" Hixlaroh tried to evade speaking about names. "I said, I don't-" Molotiya's mouth seemed to malform for a slim second, into something else; Something Hixlaroh hadn't the time to recognize. "I do know..." She whispered under her breath, which was almost unhearable in the void.

"Then, why?" Hixlaroh's eyes softened, feathers feeling like they were prickling up slightly. "I've been here forever... I was told by a voice, up there, that I belonged here..." Molotiya whispered, looking up at Hixlaroh, as tears of blood started to cascade down her cheeks. "Are you Molotiya's conciousness..." Hixlaroh whispered, quieter than Molotiya had ever whispered herself.

The tears when fallen off her face just floated there in the strange void. "Up... There?" Hixlaroh looked up for her first time, seeing just the faintest of glow up there, a tiny dot of it. "Yeah... It's been there as long as I can remember, and it spoke to me." Molotiya whispered. Suddenly, the void seemed less thick, just by a little. The sound traveled easier and Hixlaroh could move better.

"Let's go up to it." Hixlaroh narrowed her amber eyes. "But- All the times I've tried, the void doesn't let me..." Molotiya whispered, backing up so little it was nearly not at all. "How often does the void lighten up!?" Hixlaroh changed the subject desperately. "Every day, the void lightens up... Just a little... When I was first appeared here, the void was so thick, my limbs could barely even move..." Molotiya murmured.

"It lightens every time the... Big Molotiya..?" Hixlaroh cocked her head. "Goes more insane..." The pup murmured, as if she understood what Hixlaroh meant by 'big Molotiya'. "Well let's try anyway." Hixlaroh raised her voice, struggling madly to try and reach the dot in the void.

The pup didn't react much, only looked down. Hixlaroh stopped thrashing about. "What?" Hixlaroh's amber eyes flashed. The pup bit into Hixlaroh's leg, making the young owl screech in pain; But the pain only lasted what felt a mili-second, and it was painless even though small, very small, amounts of blood were cascading down and floating in the void.

"Wha- Why!?" Hixlaroh snapped, the pup looking up at Hixlaroh's massive eyes. Molotiya didn't react, only started thrashing about just as Hixlaroh had been previously, not letting go of the chicklet's scaly legs.

CHAPTER IS A MASSIVE WIP