Misty Mountain Hop

Snow fell slowly over the mountain, the wind blowing coldly and stirring the cold powder into beautiful patterns, twirling across the sky. The growing cold and wind barely bothered me compared to the low visibility caused by those same swirls through the sky. There were no landmarks on this part of the mountain: no easily visible ridges, or notable formations of rocks, no comfort at all for someone trying to head back home. Looking up at the sky, I could practically feel the oncoming storm, just a few minutes out, sending a shiver down my spine, despite the lack of any sensation of chill in my body. Raising my hand to shield my face from the growing wind, I trudged on with growing determination as the snow built up. It now had risen to cover my knees, the soft powder still buckling under the negligible weight of my form. Despite the lack of feeling of chill, I could feel my body growing numb, I cursed in frustration. Why’d it have to storm here, now? Dread began to sink over me as I felt my knees lock up, sending me face-first into the snow as the wind built faster, the snow starting to pile up rapidly, nearly burying me in the few moments it took for me to wobble back upright. My vision was foggy, the cold finally sneaking past my resistance, everything bleeding to milky white as I collapsed. There I lay unconscious on the mountainside in the midst of a blizzard, for the second time in recent memory.

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I had long ago been on this same mountain, in much the same place, in a similar storm. Unlike now, I hadn’t gone this way on purpose. I hadn’t been up the mountain before, and of course, without a guide, I had quickly become lost.

“Clara, you don’t need a guide, Clara, you know your way, Clara, it’s just a quick jaunt through the snow... Bah, you’re such an Idiot!”

I cursed at myself, my far-from-weather-appropriate clothes rustling in the wind as it started to pick up, growing more and more bitter as I shuddered in the cold. It looked like a blizzard was building up, and I couldn’t even see the way back down the mountainside. My sense of direction was completely ruined by the swirling snow and erratic winds, and as I tried to walk down the slope, I found it rising again in that same direction, or dropping down into a sheer cliff. Turning to retrace my steps, the footprints right behind me were already covered by the snow. I cursed again, slowly sinking deeper into the snow, covered up to my waist by now as I saw movement in the distance. Probably just a figment of my desperation, but...

“H-hey! Help! Help me!” I shouted, growing more desperate as the figure faded from view behind the swirling snow. The sensation in my lower body was slowly fading away, as was my vision. Just as my last little connection to the waking world was severed, I heard a faint, soft call in the distance, coming from the direction of the figure. It sounded like a song of sorrow. I tried to extend a hand into the air as the snow piled on, attempting to avoid being submerged completely, the snow now reaching up to just under my chin. My body couldn’t take the loss of heat anymore, and I passed out, the last thing I felt being a reassuring touch on my hand.

I don’t have much recollection of the time between then and when I woke up, the sleep was tinged with nightmare, as it usually was for me. I honestly thought that might have been the end for me, but eventually, I found my awareness creeping back to me. My vision was blurry at first, understandably. All I could make out was what I was lying on - a neatly made bed of snow that was surprisingly comfortable to lie on. I sat up and tried to make out my surroundings, and as my vision cleared, I saw that I was in a miniature ice hotel of sorts, with snow for walls and flooring. It had been designed in a way where it was actually quite warm inside; I was relieved to find I could actually feel my legs again, and my body had escaped the snow burial mostly unharmed. The more logical side of me told me that shouldn’t have been possible considering what happened, but the “grateful to be alive” side of me decided to think nothing of it and just take it; the latter side won the argument.

Just as I was sitting there debating with myself, I heard a quiet voice by my side. I hadn’t seen anything when I looked around before, so I thought I was alone. I turned to face it and saw one of the sweetest looking creatures I’d ever seen in my life. It looked like it was clad in a kimono, with a large red ribbon tied around its waist, though I knew that was just how it looked from a human’s perspective. Its arms hung off the side of its head, almost like ears, and ended in flared wrists dappled with light blue and three small digits, further reinforcing the kimono resemblance. It head was shaped like a sideways water drop, with two icy crystal stumps sticking out of either side of its head above its eyes, yellow with blue irises. It must have stood at about less than half of my height, floating just above the ground. It was almost as if a swift breeze could blow it away, like its torso was hollow, which would make sense seeing as it was floating off the ground. Sitting next to it now, it looked kind of shy, but approached me nevertheless. I reached out to it with my left hand - still pale looking from the incident earlier - and gently patted its head, which it seemed to enjoy. It floated over to my lap and settled down on it, never breaking eye contact with me as it did so. I wondered if it could understand me?

“Can you hear me? I mean, can you understand me?”

The creature nodded her droplet head, looking a bit more excited that I had started to talk. “Fr-fros!” she responded, rapidly nodding her head as she lifted one of her sleeved arms and placed her hand across my forehead. It sent a shiver down my spine, her touch feeling like snow settling across my face. After a moment, she nodded in satisfaction, floating up off my lap and tilting its head, as though waiting for me to do something.

“Frossly?” She queried, bobbing slowly above the ground.

“I’m, um.... I’m not exactly sure what you’re asking.” I replied with a bit of a forced smile, placing my own hands where she had touched my forehead in an attempt to restore warmth to the area. “Why am I even...” A thought suddenly occurred to me. ”Did... did you save me?”

She floated toward me, taking one of my hands in hers as she nodded quickly. “Lllyy~!” Gesturing toward one of the semi transparent walls, I could see the storm still raging outside, snow piled up around most of the structure. She held my hand tightly and smiled warmly at me, despite the frosty nature of her touch.

“I’m glad I’m okay too. Thanks.” I did my best to smile back, despite the fear and adrenaline that was only now slowly starting to fade, relief starting to overwhelm me as I dropped back on the bed of ice and snow. With this, she let go of my hand and walked away, leaving me to rest and recover from my ordeal outside. I felt my eyelids droop and within a matter of seconds, I was fast asleep again.

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A featureless, snow covered plain. Nothing to be sighted in any direction, no sound except the sound of my breathing and of the wind blowing snow in my face. By my side, a little girl, no older than 12. The first big adventure of her life. She looks at me, excitement in her eyes at the mystery of the place we were in. It took quite the person to be excited by something like this, this girl certainly was very special. At the same time, we knew we had to try and find a way back. The wind had picked up in speed, and even our thick coats, scarves and balaclavas couldn’t fend off the icy conditions forever.

“But why do we have to go back, sis? We can still have a little look around, explore some more. I wanna see some mysterious Pokemon!” she complains, I’m surprised at the fact that that’s the only thing she’s complaining about.

“No, it’s too dangerous out here, we have to go back home! I’m absolutely freezing, even in this attire.” I insist back, taking her by the hand and leading her to the direction from which we came, hoping it would lead us out of this building snowstorm.

“But I don’t want to- AHHH!” I feel her hand slide out of mine, as she moves further and further away from me. I chase after her, all in vain as the closer I get, the further she disappears into the snow shroud.

“BIG SIS! HEEEELP!” she screams at the top of her voice, but no matter how frantically I look, I can’t tell which direction the voice is coming from. She calls out again, and I call back to her. A low rumbling noise sounds far off, building in amplitude as the seconds pass.

Avalanche. It’s coming towards me. I’m going to die here! It’s coming at m-

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I woke up with a jump, gasping for breath as I did so, the sweat still dripping off of my body. I realized if I was sweating that I must be somewhere warm; the thought brought me back into reality and calmed me down, with me eventually managing to slow down my breathing. In front of me was the creature from before, with an extremely worried look on her face.

“Fross?” she said, her voice dropping noticeably in a tone of worry.

“Oh, don’t worry about me, I’m fine. It’s just the same nightmare I’ve had for the past five years. I doesn’t happen every night but...” I sighed, shaking my head “...it doesn’t matter. I’m still trying to forget what happened then.”

Bizarrely then, it looked like tears started to form in the corners of the creature’s eyes. Why would she be so upset about me having a nightmare?

“Hey, hey, don’t worry, it’s only a nightmare...” I tried to comfort her, petting her head gently. This seemed to cheer her up a bit, but I could tell she was still really upset about something.

“Is something wrong? Is it something I did, or something I said?”

At this, the creature shook her head, pointing at me whilst doing it, and then back to her. I didn’t understand what she was trying to say at all and just shrugged my shoulders. With that, she stopped crying and instead gestured to the wall behind me. I turned around, and saw that finally, the snow storm had passed, I could finally go home.

I shuddered slightly, still shaken by the nightmare as I started to walk for the exit, glad to be able to escape the snowstorm. As I was about to leave, though, I felt a soft touch, the small creature having wrapped her arms around my waist, holding me tight. I turned to face her as she looked up into my eyes. Despite the lack of tears in her yellow and blue orbs, I could still see that she was very sad to see me go.

I smiled down to her, leaning down slightly. “I’ll come down here again soon... I’ll find some way to thank you. I promise.”

She looked a little bit reassured by my statement, nodding a little and releasing me from its grip. She did pause, and point at the two of us again. “Fr-fros?” Her voice sounded like a question, hopeful.

“I promise. Do you know where the town on the west side of the mountain is? The pass trail? That’s where I’ll be.”

She nodded slowly, still seeming a little disappointed, but content with my answer.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, then?” I asked cautiously, to which she responded with a nod. I left slowly, trying to mark the location of the icy home in relation to the town into my mind. I realized that it was all but invisible against the snow and stone of the mountainside, but I still tried my best. For a few moments, I stood there, until the cold started to bite back into my skin. Pulling up the hood of my coat, I began to jog down the side of the mountain, eager to make it back to the warmth of civilization.

Thankfully, with the clear view I had, finding my bearings for the way home was a lot easier than I had expected. It still took about an hour of walking before I saw any sort of sign of life other than me, but soon enough, I tracked down one of the many routes that covered the region of Sinnoh, joined onto it, and from there, I followed a map back to my hometown, Snowpoint city. Maybe growing up there was what got me so used to the idea of trekking in the snow and the like, seeing as the place is covered in it nearly all year round. In any case, it was my home, and I was proud of it. As I turned the last corner that led route to the harbour, the first thing you could see when you entered the city. From there, it was down one flight of steps, and up to another where the rest of it lied. However, my house was nearby the harbour so from there it was only a few short steps to finally get home. All the houses in Snowpoint were rigid, built to the the best at keeping the cold out and the warm in. As soon as you entered, the most obvious thing you noticed was the massive fireplace which dominated a good area of the living room. We needed them for the really cold winter months, which is why pretty much all of the houses had them. Seeing as it was still fairly chilly today, I decided the best course of action would be to strike a match and light the bad boy up. Thankfully, the charcoal I had saved up was put to good use, and within a matter of minutes, there was a roaring fire exuding a warming glow, livening up the house.

“Glay, glay!” I heard a call from the kitchen. The Glaceon that made it hopped cheerfully into the living room and up to me, nuzzling my leg.

“Aw, hey boy! Yes, I’m back!” I picked him up and gave him a big hug, something he always liked. He was mostly light blue in coloration, apart from darker blue fur covering his four paws, looking like he was wearing boots. His ears were shaped like long diamonds, and his tail also ended in a light blue diamond shape. I met him during one of my travels once, before my sister’s disappearance. He seemed to take a liking to me and my sister; I’ve kept him as a pet ever since. Sometimes I feel like he misses her as much as I do.

He nuzzled my shoulder as I held him, glancing at me curiously as he sniffed at my face. “Glay~cee?” He squeaked curiously, licking at my face.

“Yeah! I did meet someone while I was out today!” I responded, stroking his head. “I got into a bit of trouble when I was out today.... A bit of a storm. Someone showed up to help me out.” As I spoke, I remembered that I had promised to repay her. “Do you know of anything an Ice Pokémon might like? You want to head out to get something to thank her with me?”

He nodded quickly in my arms, squirming free and jumping to the ground before proudly strolling to the door, sitting and waiting there for me as I brushed off my coat. “Alright! I’ll take that as a yes!” I called out, pushing open the door as he darted out ahead of me, taking the lead through the snowy streets. I followed him slowly, looking up at the sky and smiling at the lack of clouds. After this morning, I didn’t want to see those stormclouds again for at least a year. I knew this was a vain hope, though. Blizzards came in quick and vanished just as fast up here, and were frightfully frequent as well. For now, though, it was better, and with luck, another big storm wouldn’t be due for a few days. My musing kept me distracted from the cold long enough to reach the PokéMart, my Glaceon already standing at the door, pacing impatiently as he waited for my arrival.

“Alright then.... What do you think we should get?”

I opened the door and he darted in with purpose, standing directly by a shelf lined with a variety of trinkets used by trainers to help Pokémon focus. In particular, he stopped before the segment for the particular type of Pokémon that was most common here.

“Oh! Never-melt Ices! Of course!” I grinned. The small pieces of eternally frozen water were carved into small shapes and statues, some looking like particular Pokémon, others just made into attractive geometric patterns. Browsing through the shelf, I found one that looked somewhat like the creature that had saved me. I took it with a smile.

“I think she’ll like this.... Good idea, Glacy!” I petted her head and took the ornament to the counter, and promptly paid for it. The man at the counter wrapped it gently in bubble wrap so that it wouldn’t shatter in transit.

“How do they make these things so that they never melt?” I asked him, making small talk with the man.

“Ah, if we told you that, that’d be our trade secret gone, wouldn’t it?” he retorted, tapping his nose and winking at me. My face reaction said all that needed to be said about that conversation, and it seemed that my Glaceon agreed. We promptly left the store and hurried back home to the warm, spending the rest of the night warming our bones by the fire.

--------

As promised, the next morning, I went to meet up with my newfound icy friend at the pass trail, present in hand in my jacket pocket. I realized that I never really told her at what exact time to expect me, so I just went out early in the morning as soon as I had my breakfast. About an hour later, I heard the frail voice call again, and sure enough, when I turned to face it, she had appeared.

“Fros, Froslass!” she called out to me.

“Hey! It’s nice to see you again!” I called back, at which point she floated over to me and upwards to meet me eye to eye. The whole time her gaze seemed fixated on my eyes, as if she was looking for something in them.

“Whatcha lookin at, huh?” I asked her, at which she shook her head and then floated back down to ground level, leaving me rather confused.

“Oh, I got a present for you by the way!” I told her, getting the present out of my pocket and handing it over to her; she took it excitedly and gently undid the wrapping, a look of glee and surprised on her face.

“I thought you might like it! You see, it looks like you! Also, apparently it’s made from ice that never melts, not that it should matter that much because you live in such a cold place any-”

She put the little sculpture down and squeezed me tightly, interrupting me. She held surprisingly tight, considering how frail she looked. I staggered back a few steps in surprise, but she floated after me, still clinging tightly, shouting happily. “Frossllyyyysss! Lass!”

“W-wow! I’m glad you like it!” I smiled down at her, sitting down to level myself with her as she released me. She began to chatter happily and incomprehensibly for a few moments before a look of frustration crossed her face, her hood wrinkling in a momentary scowl. As she fell silent, she took one of my hands in hers, looking carefully in my eyes again.

“Yeah.... I wish I could understand you too. It seems like you’ve got a lot to say.” She nodded rapidly, still remaining silent, but looking glad that I was talking to her. She looked at me sideways, as if inviting more from me. I found myself starting to talk about the last day to her, just relating my experiences like I would to a friend. She waited, watching me as I spoke, and every time I paused, she gestured for me to continue, enthralled by my fairly mundane story.

After a short while, I stopped, smiling over to her a little. “You seem really fascinated, don’t you?” I smiled down at her while she nodded emphatically, pausing for a moment to think. “You know... I think it’d be really fascinating to hear about you, too... Living up in the mountains like that. I get the feeling you’re lonely, too.... Maybe tomorrow.... Hmm. Can you write?”

She paused for a little bit, before very slowly and cautiously nodding, waiting to see how I would continue. But, in her eyes, I saw a bit of a spark of excitement and hope.

“Well... How about we meet here the same time tomorrow, and I’ll bring some pen and paper!” She smiled broadly at these words, leaping forward again and hugging me tightly once more, her nearly-weightless form’s strength surprising me once again as she shrieked in delight at my suggestion. “Frosss~~lassss!”

“Let’s plan on that, then!” I replied with a grin, standing a little. “Is there anything else you’d want to do today, though?”

She bowed her head down in thought for a bit at this, before perking her head up and looking like she had an idea. She grabbed my hand and tried to move off, asking me to come with her.

“Uh, you want to take me somewhere? Ok, where do you want to go?”

She giggled and led me by the hand along the pass trail. Before long, she stopped, and pointed at a crevice in the wall, which looked just about big enough for me to squeeze through. She hovered around excitedly at reaching this, this was clearly what she wanted to show me.

“You want us to go in there? OK, but it’s going to be a tight squeeze for me!”

She giggled as I made an attempt at contorting myself to get through the tight space. The first time, I found the space too tight and had to retreat back outwards, at which the Froslass looked rather sad. I couldn’t bear seeing her disappointed face, so I went back to the crevice and gave it another go. The further I went in, the more it hurt as I felt the tight compression around my body. I was just about to give up when all of a sudden, I felt myself become lighter inside, somehow. It was the oddest sensation, one that I had never experienced before in my life. But with it, I was finally able to squeeze through the crevice, and emerge clumsily to the other side. I heard an excited “Frossly!” from the other side, confirming that I had made it through. In a matter of seconds, Froslass had squeezed through to join me on the other side as well, making it look like cakewalk.

“Alright then, so we’re here on the other side. What was it that you wanted to show me?”

She grabbed my hand again and led me through the snowy cave. The light slowly faded from the small crevice that we had entered from, making it difficult to see where we were going, or, after a few twists through the passages, even where we had come from. The only way I knew we were going in the right direction was the Froslass’s hand on mine, tugging me forward, an excited glint in her faintly glowing eyes.

Finally, we emerged into a large, open cavern, cracks in the icy ceiling letting enough light through to reveal the contents of the cavern. I gasped in amazement, seeing the ice of the cavern, carved into an intricate recreation of the village I had come from, as one might see it from the mountainside. The ice glimmered, reflecting and redirecting the light so the entire recreation could be seen easily, despite the little light that seeped in from above.

I turned to my guide, amazed by what I saw. “Did you.... Did you do all of this?” She nodded repeatedly, gently floating down from the ledge we stood on, and beckoning for me to follow. Carefully clambering down after her, I followed her as she ducked into a small side passage.

The passage was still carved from ice, smoothed and rather like a hallway in a human building. In fact, as I followed her into the chamber she waited for me in, I caught my breath in shock.

It was a recreation of my own home. the walls, the halls, even the fireplace was carved from the ice, flames frozen in the crystalline carvings. Even more, there were statues of people here. A statue of me. A statue of my sister.

“H-how... Why...?” I stumbled over my words, confused and amazed. It couldn’t have been something she had made just after meeting me: It was too detailed, too intricate; and my sister, she had been.... I shook my head. I didn’t want to think about it again so soon after yesterday. As if in response to my question, she smiled faintly, looking up at me with hope in her eyes. She must’ve seen me before. Must’ve *known* me before, if she cared enough to make something like this, but nonetheless...

“I-I’m sorry, but... I don’t remember you. I get the feeling I should but, I just don’t...”

My words were cut off as she wailed in frustration and disappointment, throwing herself at me and clinging tightly as tears welled in her eyes. I wasn’t really sure how to react, so I did what I could and hugged her back, trying to wipe the tears from her eyes.

“Hey come on now, it’s OK, there’s no need to cry... I’m here, right?” I tried to reassure her, which seemed to work a little bit but she was still very visibly upset, clinging onto me even tighter and refusing to let go. Perhaps she was just really lonely and wanted a friend who would stick around, but I couldn’t go and live with her. It was then that an idea of my own came to me.

“Say, if you want to stick around me so much, why don’t you come and spend the night with me at my house? It’ll be fun! You can see the village again and that way you won’t have to be alone tonight. How does that sound?”

As soon as I said that, he mood almost did a complete 180 and she looked really excited again, crying out happily and somehow managing to find the strength to squeeze me even tighter, to be honest now it was kind of getting hard to breathe.

“Ulk... Fross...lass...too...tight” I managed to croak out before she realized what was happening and loosened her grip slightly, much to my relief. She still looked up at me joyfully, tugging at my arms and leading me through the home. On closer inspection, it looked a little bit off, not quite the exact replica I originally thought it was, but nonetheless it was clearly recognizable as my home.

She lead me through it eagerly, climbing up, through the attic, and up, out through the cavern she had carved back to the mountainside, still tugging at my arms, trying to lead me back down to the village below. I grinned, following her as she swiftly floated down the snowy slopes.

“You really wanted me to invite you down here, didn’t you?” I asked, to which she looked up at me and nodded happily. “Frossly~!” I smiled as we descended back down to the city, her pace slowing as she entered the streets, her gaze looking over the buildings with wonder and bewilderment.

“I guess it’s been a while since you’ve been here?” I asked, my question once again met with a nod. “When was the last time you were down here?” I looked down at her quizzically, as she looked up at the sky, as if she was trying to think. After a few moments, she knelt down, tracing a shaky pair of digits in the light snow cover.

“Ten? Ten what? Days? Weeks? Months?” She shook her head, and gestured upward. “Ten... Years?” She nodded sadly, smiling faintly up at me nonetheless. “That’s a long while.... It’s probably nice for you to be back!” As I spoke, she nodded repeatedly, leaping up and hugging me tightly once again.

But as she did, it was like that moment triggered a sudden realization in my mind. I had a flash of the past ten years of my life all in one go, a rewind back to that certain point in time.

“I was standing... right here.” I thought aloud pointing to the snow covered ground beneath my feet, leading to a shocked reaction of realization from the Froslass, as if she had suddenly remembered something too.

Gears started turning in my head, the day’s events replayed themselves. How desperate she was for me not to leave. How she had made such a near representation of my house and the village, how she seemed so desperate when I didn’t recognize her.

How stupid I was to not see it up until now.

“S-sis!?”

----------------

This was going to be so exciting! I usually wasn’t allowed to go out on big expeditions like these ones, but never with just my sister. She had come back home for a break from her Pokemon journey, and said that she’d be willing to take her out with me on a trek through the mountains.

“Now Becky...” she said to me, in hey typical ‘I’m your older sister so I’m more responsible than you’ voice. “...I want you to be careful and stick with me at all times when we’re going out today, OK? I know that it was said the weather would be good today, but you can never be too careful out here.”

“Don’t worry, I promise, I’ll stay close!” I replied; my sister confirming it with a nod of her head. Having packed up all our gear and put on our extra thick hiking jackets, we set out for the nearby mountains. Like I promised, I made sure to stick close to my sister as we advanced higher and higher into the range. As we progressed upwards, I started to find it harder to breathe, which sis noticed as we stopped for breath.

“You have to be careful around here when you’re breathing. Remember, the further up you go, the thinner the air is, so there’s less oxygen for your little body to take in. Just take it slow and don’t breathe or exert yourself too quickly. That should help.”

I silently nodded and did as she said, already starting to feel better from doing so.”See? Just like that! We’ll be there soon enough.” She grinned to me, before turning back to the slope and starting to climb once again. A little slower this time, though, so that I wouldn’t strain myself so much.

We continued to climb, slowly, her stride slowing further still as we climb further, the snow growing deeper and the wind slowly picking up speed. As we continued to climb, the sky slowly darkened with thick clouds, snow falling lightly at first, then slowly thicker and thicker as the wind built until a full on storm.

"This weather's taken far too much of a turn for the worse. Sorry, we have to go back, sis, there's no way we'll make it like this." she suddenly blurted, dampening my spirits somewhat.

“But why do we have to go back, sis? We can still have a little look around, explore some more. I wanna see some mysterious Pokemon!” I complained at her insistence, irritated by how she had suddenly changed her mind. I had been promised an adventure, and despite the biting cold and wind, I wasn’t about to give up now.

She looked at me sternly. “No, it’s too dangerous out here, we have to go back home! I’m absolutely freezing, even in this attire.” She took my hand and tugged at me to follow her back down the mountainside, the wind building into a thick white blanket of powder snow.

“But I don’t want to- AHHH!” I yell, my hand slipping out from hers as I pull the other way. I slip, hitting the snow hard, starting to slide down the the mountainside, my big sister vanishing behind the curtain of wind and snow. I can hear her following me as I scramble to regain my footing, trying to climb back up toward her as my foot hits a patch of snow with nothing under it. I fall through, slamming hard onto the rough stone beneath, practically invisible behind the wall of snow I had plunged through.

“BIG SIS! HEEEELP!” I scream at the top of my voice, unable to hear any response. I was about to yell again, when I heard the rumbling, the sound of snow, mud, and stone tumbling down the mountain, knocked loose by the storm. I hid in the cave for what felt like hours, until the sound of the wind and the snow finally stopped, clambering out and making my way back to the city in a state of shock. But my older sister wasn’t there to meet me.

--------------

“I.... I dreamed about what it must’ve been like.... I thought you were dead!” I looked at her, both of our faces twisted with confused emotion. Unsure whether we should feel sorrow or joy. I looked at my hand and saw it had gone completely pale, the colour completely drained.

“But, how can it be you? I remember it so clearly back then, you just... disappeared into the snow. I must have searched for hours trying to find you! And how did you turn into this? Gah, this is so confusing!” I yelled, scaring her a little.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to yell, but, you have to understand this is a lot to take in. I mean, my sister isn’t dead? And now she’s a Pokemon as well? This is messing with my head so much it’s unreal.”

She looked quite distraught at my response, perhaps expecting me to have a bit more of a cheerful reaction, but I don’t think she could understand. I thought I had finally managed to move on after ten years of blaming myself and suffering. I thought that finally, I could maybe be able to forgive myself for what happened and for losing her. But then to suddenly find out she was alive, right here, in front of my eyes? It was too much. I ran. I ran as far as I possibly could, without even looking where I was going. Even as I heard the shrill cries of the Froslass in the background, I knew I couldn’t turn back. I couldn’t face her again, not now. I needed to get away, I needed time to think. Except all I could think about was her!

In my frustration, I sped up further still, not paying any attention to my direction or my surroundings. As I ran, I started to feel myself getting lighter, as if whilst I was running my feet weren’t even touching the ground. I stopped hearing the crunches of my feet against the snow, too distraught and confused to hear anything but my own rushing thoughts. Stumbling across the mountainside, trees, boulders, everything rushing past me in a blur of snow and tears, before I finally fell. Crashing to the ground, snow erupting in a plume around me, heart pounding and lungs burning with exhaustion. Hands slowly clutching handfuls of dirt and ice before me as it drifted down, dusting my arms and hair. My tears freezing in the bitter cold as they hit the ground; body too numb to feel anything before I collapsed, body shuddering with sobs. Why hadn’t she told me? Come down from the mountain? Let me know she was okay? But no, she just hid up in her little ice palace. Leaving everyone worried, thinking she was gone. My sorrow and anger blurring together for how I don’t know how long.

Slowly lifting my head, I glanced back and forth, the situation my sorrow had left me in suddenly sinking in. The cold was not yet setting into my body, but the sun had almost touched the horizon. With night coming soon, it wouldn’t be long before the mountain would become too hostile for me to stay, and with no idea where I was… I dared not finish that sentence. I gritted my teeth, using the sun to orient me back toward the village and started to stumble back in the direction of Snowpoint. The wind starting to pick up as I walked, fluttering my thick winter clothes as if it was soft cloth and clutching at my skin; swirling dust covering my footprints and blocking my vision.

Just as I was about to find my bearings, the inevitable happened, the weather took a massive turn for the worse. Blistering powder snow whipped up from the ground by the wind, completely obscuring any vision slightly beyond my face, any sort of landmarks I could use for navigation disappeared. I began to feel less affected by the cold as my body also began to feel even lighter and number, but still it was so relentless, I knew I wouldn't last long out here. I felt a sharp pain in the back of my head as if something was trying to burst out of it, but the numbness of the cold quickly suppressed it. I brought up my hand to my face to try and shield the worst of the powder blasts from my face. The colour of my hand almost matched the colour of the snow it was trying to block, a reminder of the severity of the situation. Right then and there, I felt like the most stupid person in the entire world. Mainly because stupidity was just about the only thing I could still feel in the cold. The sensation of dread kicked in, and the sensation of non-existent knees locking up sent me crashing to the ground once again. My eyes stinging still as my hands no longer answered my brain to shield them, the last sight before my sight faded to black was a blur of milky white, growing bigger and bigger in my field of vision.

------------

No, no, no! Why'd she have to run away when she'd just realized who I was? Was she afraid of me, was that it? But I was her sister, surely she'd understand really? I had to chase after her, there's no way I'd be able to catch up considering how much smaller I was than her but I had to try. I could barely make out her shape as she ran into the distance; for some reason she was running back up the mountain. If she wasn't careful she'd end up treading straight into a snowstorm! I had to catch up to her and warn her.

I squinted against the light of the sun, raising one arm to shade my eyes, dress fluttering as I floated up after her, crying out as the shadowed speck of my sister vanished from my sight, only the burning light and the shadows of trees left visible. “F-fr-frooos!” I shrieked as loudly as I could, trying to catch her, call her back, warn her somehow despite the distance. The sun slowly descending, shadows growing long as I closed my eyes completely. Soft glowing lights flickering through the darkness. Small glowing specks of life against the cold of the mountain. Most of them were still and quiet, seeking shelter against the coming storm. Just one was fleeing up the mountain, the cold and wind slowly enveloping it as it stopped, falling into the snow and mud as it grew slowly colder, ice and crystal lacing itself through my sister’s spirit as the elements slowly began to overcome her. Eyes shut tight, I held one robed arm ahead of me, brushing against stone and wood as I struggled up after her, my light and airy form buffeted by the slowly growing winds.

At long last, I saw her rise, start slowly making her way down across the mountain. Toward the village at first, but her exhaustion and disorientation soon showed as she veered off course. At the very least, she was heading closer to me, now. Maybe I could manage to bring her back to safety. Again, I thought with a bit of a smile beneath my hood. Slowly, I opened my eyes, watching as she changed course again to face away from me and head back up the mountain. As she did, a snowstorm started brewing, causing me to panic for her safety. I called out to her again with a shrill cry, but it was no use, my calls were nothing against the sound of the rushing wind. Bizarrely, her shape seemed to be getting smaller in the distance. Was she getting buried by the snow? She seemed to be slowing down, making me worried but relieved at the same time. Her slowing down meant I could finally catch up to her but at the same time it meant she was losing strength. I had to be quick!

Eventually, she slowed down enough to the point where her silhouette was starting to grow larger rather than smaller. Though the closer I got, the more strange it became. I saw her head change shape. As though a short horn was emerging from the back of her head. Her body small and frail, stained pale white and icy blue across her body, her face a distressingly dark, frozen shade. Her eyes growing wide, shifting in color to pale blue, the whites becoming pale yellow as I drew closer, losing focus and falling shut as she drifted into unconsciousness before I knelt by her side. Her whole body light and airy enough for my to lift, ice clinging to her arms and forehead even as I pulled her free from the snow. “S-sis! W-wake up!” I shrieked, clutching my cold hands against her face and shaking her, pulling her clothes tight around her. Hood over her face, sleeves over her arms. I knew what was happening. That it was going to no matter what I did, even if she’d never come to the mountain, and yet, I couldn’t help my panic. Closing my eyes in a grimace, I took a scrap of cloth from my robes, tying the red scrap of fabric around her waist, and slowly carrying her back down the mountain, toward her home.

The changes didn’t stop as I carried her down, her arms shifting to drop down from the sides of the mask on her head and her body shrinking to the point where it was but a fraction larger than mine. At the very least now, her body would be impervious to the cold. I held her as close as I could as I floated my way down the misty mountainside, back into the forest of pine trees and out again onto the mountain trail that led back to the city. I looked back down at my unconscious sister in my arms; still no sign of waking up anytime soon. It had been years since I’d been here, but the directions to my former house were still fresh as ever in my mind. Thankfully, there wasn’t a single passer by on the route home and before long I was there at my old front door.

The door was locked. She’d always been the sort of person to never forget something like that. Always so cautious in the little things, but so reckless with everything else. Thankfully, it didn’t take long for me to find an unlocked window, and slip inside. Years since I’d been here, but I still remembered exactly what it looked like. Her body barely moved as I set her on her bed. I could recognize the slight movement of breath, but only just; her silken  white clothes starting to spread a chill through the room. I felt compelled to maybe start a fire, or do something to make her waking easier, and yet I could not bring myself to leave her side. The small foxlike Glaceon that was the house’s only other occupant clambering over to the bed beside her, and the two of us waiting there, as the sun set and the moon climbed to high overhead.

“What happened here? Where’s master, who are you?” Glaceon asked after some time, I wondered why he had taken so long to do so but answered him regardless, expecting he wouldn’t like what I had to say.

“Glaceon... it’s Becky, Clara’s sister. And that on the bed is… Clara.”

I had never seen such a face of disbelief on a Pokemon before.

“What? No, that’s impossible. You disappeared! All those years ago, in the snow, and Clara just went out to meet a new Ice type friend of hers. That can’t possibly be…” he cut himself off when he started to put two and two together. Realizing I was the Ice type friend she was seeing. “Becky? Is that really you?”

I nodded solemnly. Glaceon dropped his head and slowly and moved close to the unconscious Frosslass on the bed, nudging her face with his nose.

“Master, no, Clara, if that is you, please, wake up.” he almost cried, tears starting to well up in his eyes.

“Please, sis…”

--------

“Please, sis…”

Whose voice was that? Why was it so familiar, but so far away? I tried to reach out to it with my mind, but to no avail. I tried again, still nothing.

“Please, wake up!”

No, wait, the voice is even louder now. It’s my sister, I know it! I have to wake up, but I can’t seem to stand up in the void. I keep falling over.

“PLEASE!”

The shout echoed through my head, burning and squeezing it until it forced tiny corners of light into my eyes. Burning, flickering light that hurt every inch of my body despite me rationally knowing there was barely any there to begin with. Slowly, painfully opening my eyes, trying to say something as I felt my voice leak weakly and almost unintelligibly slip from my mouth.

“mnobecky, ishurts.”

I almost would have laughed at how pathetic my situation was right now, as my vision slowly came back into focus. My body feeling a shudder over it as I remembered why I had fled; the sister caring for me no longer the one I remembered. Instinct rising within me to get away, but my body too sore and weak to move. She lowered a hand to hold mine, and I suddenly realized that something was terribly wrong. I felt no cold from her touch, and, too my strained eyes, what little I could see of my hand blended into hers in a cloud of snowy white and icy blue.

“becky..? m.. m-i.. m-i still alive?”

I felt the pounding of my heartbeat deep within me, breath slowly forcing my chest up and down, and yet they barely felt like they were from my own body. I couldn’t feel cold, the touch of cloth against my back numbed, as if through a layer of water, or with frozen skin.

She nodded, slowly. “Barely. You… You’re not… Human, any more.”

“Not human?” I finally mustered the strength to focus my vision properly and look at my hands. They were exactly the same as my sister’s. The fact that I could understand her voice at all had also just dawned on me.

“No… how, why? Did you do this to me?”

“Never! Why would I do a thing like this to you?” she replied defensively. I wasn’t sure if she was telling the truth or not, but at this point I was too angry and confused to let my reasonable side win out.

“Because you were alone and you wanted your sister back! I could have taken you back home if you wanted, you didn’t have to do this to me, I’d have loved you all the same…”

“Master, please, calm down.” said a voice from my right that I hadn’t heard before, but was soothing and familiar all the same. I turned to the right and found its source, it was Glaceon. Of course, I could understand him now.

“I’m sure she didn’t mean to do this to you. And even if she did, if she hadn’t, I don’t think you would have survived long given the state of you when she brought you in.”

“I remember snow. Lots of it. I couldn’t even see in front of my face. I blacked out after that. You chased after me all that way?”

My sister nodded in response in response to my question. She went after me then dragged me all the way here.

“You idiot,” I chuckled, “you could have gotten yourself killed going after me. You saved me more than once, and the one time I tried to protect you I failed. Some sister I am…”

With that my sister practically threw herself on top of me for a hug.

“I’m just happy to have my big sister back.”

I smiled, softly, holding her back. “I’m glad you’re back too.” Her touch still didn’t feel cold. In fact, it felt warm and caring, like the sister I thought I had lost. “I uhm… I’m.. I’m sorry I freaked out like that at you. I just-”

“It’s alright.” She smiled back from beneath her hood, helping me to my… Feet? It felt like I was standing, even though I didn’t quite touch the floor. I lifted my arms, examining the long icy sleeves that now covered them, glancing over my shoulder to see the massive bow tied around my waist. It was strange, but… Somehow, I didn’t mind. It didn’t feel quite so strange anymore. Whether it was because I was with my sister again, or because I had spent so long on the icy mountainside, it felt… Right. Nice, even. I felt warm. Truly warm, down to my core, from happiness.

“So what happens now master? Do you want me to leave?” Glaceon spoke up next, obviously feeling disincluded from the conversation.

“No, of course not, and please, stop calling me master! We’re on equal terms now, not that we weren’t before.” I replied with a smile, at which he jumped in and joined the group hug.

“The better question is, where do you guys all want to live?”

Both my sister and Glaceon looked down and pondered for a while, as did I. When we all looked up together, it was obvious we all had the exact same idea in mind.

--------

It took a couple of days for us to recreate all the pieces of ice furniture as they were situated in my sister’s little hidden passageway, as the original pieces were too big in order to simply move them, and carrying them over such a long distance would have been very tiresome. By the time we were done though, my formerly very wooden cottage turned into a practical crystal palace. Thankfully it was still cold enough year round that melting wasn’t too much of an issue, although sometimes we had to make fixes to some parts of the house, it was nothing a quick powder snow couldn’t fix.

Every now and then we still made our way back to my sister’s retreats in the mountains to get away from the slight hustle bustle of the city, but it was so quiet and peaceful where we were we didn’t feel the need to go up often. I never said it to my sister, but as far as I was concerned the less I saw of that mountain the better.

Life continuing as it had, but with my sister beside me once again. I was somewhat surprised, at first, that the city didn’t regard something inhuman visiting so often with surprise, but I suppose in such a cold environment, it wasn’t as rare a sight as I would’ve thought. No matter what, though, I was glad to have found my sister again.

Oh, and as for the nightmares I was having? They haven’t bothered me in a long, long time.