FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The Snow King

By Nathan Hastings

Chapter 1: Brother and Sister

Many years ago, there lived a boy named Johnny, who was 16, and Rachel, his 10-year-old sister. Johnny was handsomely muscular and had long, smooth blond hair that reached down to his shoulders, and his eyes were chocolate brown. Rachel was smaller than her older brother but she had longer hair than he did and she had brown eyes, just like Johnny. Johnny and Rachel loved each other and did everything together. They'd play together, swim together and even keep each other warm on cold winter nights. They even shared a bedroom together so that neither one of them would feel lonely. Their mother died when she gave birth to Rachel and their father took care of the children until he was taken by a terrible illness. Today, Johnny and Rachel live with their grandparents, whom they loved the children dearly. The family lived out in a small house, which stood in front of a huge forest that was completely dense with oak trees. It seemed that the two siblings were inseparable.

One night, their grandmother was tucking Rachel into bed, Rachel asked, "I can't sleep, Granny. Could you tell me a story, please?" Her grandmother chuckled. "Alright," she said, "What would you like to hear?" "Where does all the snow come from?" Rachel piped up. "Well," began her grandmother, "they say that every snow flake comes from the north and in the north where the snow never melts, residing in a castle made of the coldest ice, there rules the Snow King." "Who's he?" squeaked Rachel. "He is the winter itself," continued her grandmother, "and it is he who makes it always snow, but in the spring, his power becomes weak. And so, in the winter, he must expand his kingdom as far as possible, but the greatest threat to him of all, is warmth of a loving heart." Rachel gave a gasp. "Is he handsome?" she asked, her voice full of interest. "He is so beautiful that he makes you shiver with cold," answered her grandmother, "His eyes are as blue as sapphires and his skin and hair are as white as the snow all around him. He roams the halls of his palace admiring all that is his, but none are as more precious to him as his magic pearl. With his pearl, he can look out into the outside world and in doing so, he expands his icy winter snow." Rachel shivered and then she looked over at the mirror above the dresser and gasped. "What's wrong?" Johnny asked. "I... it's the Snow King! He's watching us!" Rachel squeaked before darting beneath the covers. Johnny chuckled and walked over to his timid little sister. "Don't be silly, Rachel," laughed Johnny, "He can't get in here. Besides, I'll protect you." Then, Johnny stood up beside Rachel's bed and expanded his chest and put his hands on his hips to make him look like one of the superheroes in the comics. Rachel giggled at her big brother. He always had a way of making her feel better. "Yeah," she said, feeling a little braver, "and if he does get in, we'd put him in the microwave, and he'd melt."

Johnny and Rachel laughed at this statement, but far away in the north, in a grand icy palace, a tall white figure was viewing two young children who were laughing about him in a round sphere the size of a bowling ball. "Arrogant child," he sneered at the girl, "Does she dare challenge me?" He was just about to send a blizzard to that very location, when he stopped and had another thought come to him. Then he chuckled to himself. "We'll see how well you stick together once I'm through with you," he said, still glaring at the two children in the sphere.

Chapter 2: The Snow King's Wrath

The next morning, Johnny was outside helping his grandfather chop firewood. It was around noon and the sky was gray with clouds, yet everything around the two men was bright. Then Johnny heard his grandmother calling out to his grandfather, asking him to come inside. "Don't worry, Grandpa. I'll finish from here," said Johnny. "All right, but be careful, son" the old man chuckled and hobbled back to the house. Johnny was outside chopping wood for around 30 minutes when without warning, a huge wind started to blow from the north. The cold was starting to penetrate Johnny's coat and he rubbed his hands together to keep them from freezing. What Johnny didn't realize was that while the wind was blowing, his skin under his winter clothing was starting to grow thick coats of gray fur. His ears started to shift to the top of his head and his face was starting to extend in front of him. Then, Johnny started to feel a pain in his legs. He figured that they were just cramps from standing out in the cold, but the truth was that they were changing from human legs into hindquarters. And to finish it off, a long gray furry tale extended from behind Johnny. Johnny had been unaware of this change and for a moment, he thought that he was getting hot in his jacket. He went back to the house in hopes that he would feel much better inside. But as soon as he stepped inside, Rachel looked up from a jigsaw puzzle she was doing and gave out a terrible scream. Her grandfather came rushing in and when he saw Johnny standing there, he quickly grabbed a poker from the fireplace and started to swing it in Johnny's face. "Get out you beast! Don't you dare hurt my granddaughter," her grandfather shouted. Johnny was so terrified that he ran out the door and bolted for the forest. After awhile, he stopped by a frozen stream to rest. There he bent down and when he looked down into the water, he thought he saw a wolf, which was somewhat humanly built with chocolate brown eyes, with long dark hair reaching the shoulders and it was wearing a jacket similar to his own. He looked up and no one was there. Then he looked down at the reflection again. It was really getting hot in that jacket of his. Johnny reached up to undo the zipper only to find the wolf in the reflection copying his same action. "This is getting creepy," Johnny thought to himself. He looked down at his hands, hoping it was just his imagination, but what he found were gray paws with sharp claws at the tip of the fingers. He then removed his jacket and shirt to reveal his limbs were covered in gray fur. His chest was covered with gray fur as well. Then the truth hit Johnny hard and fast: he had become a werewolf type of creature. Johnny fell to his knees and wept bitter tears of despair as he thought about the shock on his sisters' face and the rage of his grandfather.

The next day, Rachel went outside with her sled and skipped merrily toward a nearby hill where she and Johnny would race each other down the slope and see who would reach the bottom first. But today, Rachel was by herself and wondered why Johnny hadn't come back into the house after the wolf came in yesterday. A few yards away, a wolf was hiding behind a bunch of trees, longingly watching the little girl from a distance. Rachel was about to slide down the hill when she spotted a sleigh being pulled by two white horses coming in her direction. Rachel was so entranced by the shining beauty of the horses that she didn't notice the driver in the sleigh until it stopped in front of her. The stranger had a blanket made of white fur draped across his legs, and his coat and hat appeared to be made of the same material as the blanket. The driver had an expressionless face and his eyes were surprisingly deep blue. "How fast would you like to go?" the driver asked, snapping Rachel back into reality. "W-what?" she stammered. The driver chuckled softly. "Would you like to go for a ride?" the stranger asked alluringly. Rachel nodded automatically and quickly attached her sled to the back of the sleigh. Once she was on, the sleigh started off in a hurried pace. The wolf stepped out as he watched his sister ride off with the sleigh. "Rachel!" he called, but to no avail.

A sparrow saw the whole scene and landed on a branch next to the wolf. "Well, what are you waiting for?" the sparrow chirped. "What are you talking about? She's better off without me," the wolf said, fighting back the tears. "Don't you get it?" exclaimed the sparrow frantically, "That driver was the Snow King!" The wolf's eyes opened wide and he turned back towards the direction the sleigh headed off in but it was gone, and so was Rachel! "I have to go after her", the wolf cried out as he rushed after the sleigh. "But why should you go after that human? What do you find so fascinating about her, anyway?" declared the sparrow. "That 'human' is my sister!" the wolf growled, "And I'll do whatever it takes to get her back."

The sleigh was going faster than Rachel had intended. She tried to call to the driver and ask him to stop, but she found that her throat was dry and she only managed a whisper. The sleigh kept going on through the snow, never stopping and never slowing down. At last, when Rachel thought she couldn't hold on much longer, the sleigh stopped, and Rachel couldn't stop herself from shaking. The driver slowly turned around and smiled. "Do you still think you can melt me in a microwave, Rachel?" The driver stepped out of the sleigh and smiled as he walked over to the trembling, whimpering creature behind it. "My dear child, you look so cold. Come, sit with me on the sleigh." The driver offered his hand to Rachel and helped her up. His touch felt as cold as ice in her hand. The driver then led the girl to the seat in the sleigh and sat her right next to him, wrapping the blanket around her shoulders. "You look frozen, my dear," soothed the driver. He then kissed her forehead, which made Rachel shudder at the touch of his lips. "Y-your kiss f-feels c-c-cold," she whimpered, "S-s-so c-cold, i-it burns." The driver laughed as he held the young girl close to him with the blanket still wrapped around her. " I shall not kiss you anymore," he soothed, stroking her hair. "Soon, you won't even feel the cold. You must trust me, my brave princess. My love is peaceful and safe. You won't be troubled by anything. I will take you to a grand kingdom where no eyes shall see or will ever see again. You will be the princess of my domain and the life that you once knew will become nothing more than a dream. Feelings only lead to self-destruction, and it is best to be above all of that, my brave Rachel. Soon your heart will soon be as hard as diamonds. You will not know happiness, but you will also not know sorrow. You will be like me: neither sad nor joyful. You will forget all the people you have ever known and loved." While the Snow King was saying all this, the sleigh started to take off into the sky and inclined ever so slightly, flying over the treetops and houses below. Then, the Snow King turned to the girl who had stopped shivering and was looking up at him in admiration. "In this life," he continued, "you will find satisfaction."