Huddled around the flame, Krystal did all she could to try to keep warm. Even though her arms were practically in the fire at this point, she couldn't feel any heat. In fact, she couldn't feel anything. Every part of her body was numb, she was sure she was getting frostbite.
Cursing Slippy yet another time, she wrapped herself in the snow covered blanket she had managed to grab and desperately tried to warm herself with her own body heat. She felt like the last bit of a candle about to go out with a small gust of the wind. This wasn't a normal chill, this stabbed her to the bone. Outside the cave, razor sharp winds cut the air making Krystal shiver at the thought of facing them again.
How long had it been since the crash? How long had it been since she had started the fire? Her ship crashing seemed to happen days ago, but no it had to have only happened just a few hours ago didn't it? Surely Fox and the others would notice something was wrong by now. Surely they'd come looking for her, before she...Before she...
Krystal shuddered at the frightful thought that entered her head, being stuck in a cave as a frozen solid corpse for all eternity. She wasn't going to die here, she couldn't die here.
Despairing, she looked up at the roof of the cave and shouted telepathically hoping to reach someone, or something. "Is anyone out there!?!?"
But all that responded was the silent howl of the cave, like the wind in the dead of winter. Krystal grabbed her knees, about ready to give up hope.
"I hear you, young one." A deep voice tickled her mind and rattled the cave.
Krystal spun around facing the darkness of the cave. Her eyes met a pair of two great yellow orbs floating in the blackness surrounding her. In any normal situation, she might have reached for her staff to defend herself, but right now she was too weak to fend off whatever foul creature this was. Her only hope was to reason with this monster.
"Who are you? What do you want?"
"If you continue to stay out unprotected such as that, you will certainly die."
Krystal huffed angrily. "Is that what you're waiting for? For me to freeze to death before you move in for the kill?"
"Your kind come into these frozen wastes so ill prepared, it would be just to let you suffer your own fate for intruding on our refuge."
"If you aren't going to help me, then leave me be please. Once my friends find me, you'll regret coming near me." That was a bluff, but it was all she could muster at this point. Whatever this was, it seemed reasonable. Perhaps reasonable enough to leave her in peace.
"The storm outside disrupts all forms of communication that your technology permits. And your mind powers, though impressive for one such as you, are too meager. They will only reach those with the ears to hear it in a short range."
Krystal quickly decided if she was going to have any hope of getting out of here, she'd need to keep this thing talking as much as possible. "One such as you?"
The voice hesitated as the orbs of light blinked and shifted around slightly. "I must admit, you are unlike the others of your kind. None I have met possess the mind powers. Perhaps you are different."
"Different?"
"...They came. Driving us from our homes and dens. Forcing us, our young, into the cold during the last great storm. Many died. We learned to distrust your kind. We learned to hate them."
"Are you the reason we lost communication with our base then?"
The orbs shifted again. "No."
"But you still hate us?"
"Hate was not something we Icewalkers were born with. Our home was without conflict before your kind came. So we came to hate them. To curse them. But never strike against them. Only bid our time. Yet, you are different."
"Different? How?"
The orbs then approached her, closer and closer. Until at last Krystal saw that they were not orbs of light, but two large eyes attached to a humongous white bear. The bear's head was almost half the size of Krystal herself, and it's blank fur was covered with odd markings. Intimidating was the very least Krystal could say about this monster.
"You are the first of your kind to speak to one of mine."
"Y-You're a bear?"
"A bear? I do not know this word. I am Urso of the Icewalkers. Speak, what is your name."
"K-Krystal."
"What a beautiful name. It reminds me of the many shards of ice that decorate the roof of my home."
"You mean this cave?"
"What remains of it. This used to be a sprawling hall full of life and my kin. Now, it is all but abandoned save for the ghosts and the ancients. We are the only ones who remain among the living here."
This was all becoming very fascinating, but a sudden gust of cold wind blew out what remained of Krystal's fire. The cave was flooded with darkness as she suddenly realized she could no longer feel most of her limbs.
"As I told you, if you continue to stay out unprotected you will die."
"Please!" she begged the bear. "I have no quarrel with your kind. I'm not even from this planet! I just need to find someway to stay alive. Please, anything!"
The orbs of yellow light that was Urso's eyes shifted around again. The bear seemed to be debating with itself, growling in the darkness of the cave. Until at last Urso came to some sort of agreement.
"I shall show you how to survive, but if you choose to use our ways is up to you."
View Portfolio
Visit Notebook
Send Gift Points
Awards
Badges
Send Email
Community Newsfeed
General Discussion
Sponsored Items
Book of Trinkets
Static Items
Books
Groups
Interactive Stories
Audio
Campfire Creatives
Community Notes
Crossword Puzzles
Documents
Folders
Images
In & Outs
Madlibs
Photo Albums
Polls
Product Reviews
Quizzes
Survey Forms
Web Pages
Word Searches
More by this author
