FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter 5: "You must forget"

Far up in the north, Rachel was walking with the Snow King down a long hallway, which looked like it was made entirely out of glass and diamonds, but in truth it was carefully sculpted ice. The entire palace was beyond anything that Rachel had ever seen. "This place is amazing," chirped Rachel. The Snow King glanced at her and grinned. "Thank you Rachel." Now that the Snow King had brought Rachel back to his palace, she noticed that his fur coat had transformed into what seemed to be a long, flowing white robe that trailed two or three feet behind him. On his head the fur cap was transfigured into what Rachel mistook it for frosted glass crown, with triangular spikes symmetrically sloping from the center front. Along the ridges of the crown, triangular crystals were placed within each point on the crown. His hair was glossy white and his eyes were deep, sapphire blue, but his face was expressionless. "Do you find my appearance interesting?" the Snow King inquired. Rachel blinked and then responded, "What? Oh, yes. I do." The Snow King smiled and motioned Rachel to follow him. They walked side by side until they reached two large doors guarded by two polar bears in full armor, with a spear in one paw and a shield with a snowflake crest in the other. The two guards bowed low as their master and young guest entered the throne room.

Rachel nearly forgot to breath when she stepped inside the enormous chamber that served as the throne room. The walls enclosing the area formed a hexagonal shape, with the door in which they entered was directly across from the throne. The ceiling arched up to create a dome and in the center was the carving of a snowflake, and hanging from the center of the dome was a snowflake-shaped chandelier. The each wall had an individual window that was symmetrically level with each other. The throne looked somewhat geometric, with a solid block, which served as the seat, two arms on each side and the back of the throne had five spikes protruding from the top and below these spikes was the same snowflake emblem. What caught Rachel's eye the moment she stepped in was a round orb, sitting in a six-sided bowl, which stood on a pillar in the middle of the room. Once the Snow King seated himself on his throne, he beckoned Rachel to come forward. Rachel came forward at a slow pace, rubbing her hands over her arms and she started to shiver slightly. Once she reached the throne, the Snow King clapped his hands twice. At once, a penguin holding a silver tray above his head waddled over to the throne. On the tray sat a silver chalice incrusted with rubies and in it was a milky white substance. The penguin bowed low before Rachel offering her the chalice. "Drink," the Snow King told Rachel, "You'll feel better if you do." Rachel took the chalice and drank every last drop of its contents. It tasted of lukewarm water, but it was better than nothing. After Rachel finished and offered the chalice back to the penguin, she noticed that she had stopped shaking. "That will keep you from feeling the cold," explained the Snow King. With a wave of his master's hand, the penguin bowed and quickly left.

Once the penguin was gone, Rachel turned to the icy ruler in the throne. "Excuse me, your majesty," said she, "but what is that ball in the middle of the throne room?" The King looked up and his features looking majestic in Rachel's eyes. "That, dear child, is my source of knowledge. With it, I can see through out my kingdom and acknowledge those who have yet to feel my power." "But don't you ever feel lonely? Your kingdom doesn't have any live parties or..." "Rachel," the Snow King interrupted, "I have told you this before. There are no events, no joy and no sorrow. You must forget all of what you have come to know. Forget." "Oh, I'm sorry, your majesty. I forgot," Rachel stated drearily as if she was in a trance. Suddenly her skin began to turn a pale shade of blue and her blond hair turned glossy white, but Rachel didn't even notice this change for she was under the Snow King's power now. The King rested his chin on the back of his hand and looked at Rachel. He had to see if the potion she was given had taken full effect. "Do you know what happiness is, Rachel?" the King inquired. Rachel looked up. "No," she responded shaking her head. "And beauty?" the ruler asked. Rachel thought for a moment, "Well... no, I don't." She lowered her head in disappointment and the Snow King smiled and asked, "Do you remember the meaning of love?" Rachel picked her head up. "Love? It's... I don't... wait...home...Johnny!" Rachel smiled at the mention of her brother's name, but the Snow King stood up. "Johnny?" he bellowed, almost with a hint of anger in his tone, "You remember Johnny?" Rachel shrank back timidly. "Y-yes...y-your majesty," she squeaked. Then the King looked calm again, and started to chuckle as he sat back down on his throne. "It's alright, dear. I understand," he soothed, stroking the young girl's hair. Rachel felt her eyes getting heavy and she fell asleep at the feet of the Snow King. "Very soon, your heart will become frozen solid, and these memories will trouble you no more," the King said, still stroking Rachel. "You shall see what powers I possess."

Chapter 6: Being one of the Pack

It had been four days since Johnny saw the Snow King ride off with Rachel. His food rations were running low and he was growing weaker with every step he took. The only thing that kept him going was the hope of seeing Rachel again. Though he knew he had frightened Rachel in his new wolf form, he did not give up on her. He was going to keep his vow to the end. On the fifth night, he was dead tired and had to rest. Before he could go a step further, he collapsed into the snow. He tried to get back up, but every muscle in his entire body started to burn. Against his will, Johnny's eyes started to close. Before he blacked out, he thought he heard the sound of footsteps and voices.

In the darkness, he saw the house of his grandparents. He ran up the steps to the door. But when he opened it he heard a little girl scream and a man's voice calling out "Get out you beast!" The next thing Johnny knew was that he was being dragged out of the house and into the snow covered forest. He got up and all around him he heard the sound of laughter. It sounded so cold and cruel. Johnny covered his ears with his paws, trying to shut out the evil laughter. Suddenly his legs became paralyzed. He looked down at his legs and there was ice growing over his feet and reaching up to his knees. The ice was getting higher and higher. Before he was completely incased in ice, he saw a girl with pale blue skin and glossy white hair. "Why did you leave?" she asked. Johnny tried to ask the girl what she was talking about when she shattered like broken pieces of glass. "No! NO! NO!" cried out Johnny.

"NO! NO!" Johnny opened his eyes and gasped. He sat bolt upright and bumped his head against something hard. "Goodness, are you alright?" Johnny looked around to see where the voice was coming from. He was inside a cave, and he had bumped his head on a very low ledge. Out of the corner of his eye, Johnny saw a black wolf approach him. Johnny sniffed the air figured that this wolf was a female and an alpha. She had jet-black fur from head to tail, except for her paws, which gave Johnny the impression that they looked like socks. "Were you having a nightmare?" the wolf asked once it reached him. "I... I think so... W-where am I? And how did I get here?" Johnny's head still hurt from the ledge that he blindly rammed into. "You're with the Mountain Pack," answered the black wolf. "My name is Validel. I'm the pack's female alpha and mate of Tundran. And you?" Johnny leaned forward and rubbed the back of his stiff neck. "Johnny. I'm looking for my sister. I think she may have... did you say 'Mountain' Pack?" "Well...yes," answered Validel. Johnny tried to stand up. The moment he was on his feet, his knees started to buckle and he nearly would have landed face first if Validel hadn't run forward and caught him. When Validel helped Johnny up, he realized that she was about 3 feet tall, almost level to his waist.

The two wolves walked over to a nearby circle of wolves, which might have been the elders. Validel bowed low to them and Johnny bowed to them as well. "So," asked a brown wolf, who was wearing an eye patch over his left eye, "how's are patient this fine evening?" "I'm doing well, I guess," Johnny answered, shyly. "Good evening, Validel." Someone from behind them padded up to them. Validel smiled as a red wolf with a white star on his forehead came up to them. "Hello, darling," replied Validel, as the two of them nuzzled each other lovingly. The red wolf took notice of Johnny. "Oh, glad to see you're up. I thought we were too late when my hunting party found you in the snow. I'm Tundran, leader of the Mountain Pack." Johnny bowed low. "I thank you for your kindness." "What brings you all the way up hear?" inquired the alpha. Just then, one of the wolves from the circle, a scrawny, wrinkled wolf with dull brown fur and white whiskers spoke up. "Yes," he replied, "tell us everything...in detail." Johnny poured out his story. He began with him and Rachel and how they came to live with their grandparents, then the day that he was transformed into a wolf and when the Snow King took Rachel away to his castle. "And I've been searching everywhere for her," said Johnny, coming to the end of his story, "If something happens to Rachel, I don't know how I could live with myself." After Johnny ended the story of his journey, some of the wolves in the circle were listening intently, while others were holding each other with tears in their eyes and saying "Oh what a sad and beautiful story." Finally, it was Tundran who spoke up first. "Well, son, you're quest is almost complete, because you already reached the mountains, and furthermore you have the heart of a true wolf." "My heart?" Johnny asked curiously. One wolf, the oldest of the others creakily spoke up. "The heart of a true wolf," he explained, "doesn't come from his physical strength, but from the love for his family, for his pack, and his willingness to protect them to the end of time. That's what being part of the pack is about: to love and care for the ones whom you care about the most." Johnny smiled but then it faded and his eyes began filling up with tears. "I just wish I could have been there to stop Rachel from climbing into that sleigh. I wish I was there to protect her..." Johnny buried his face in his paws, tears running down fiercely. Validel stepped over to Johnny and nuzzled his neck affectionately, as a mother does her young. Johnny looked up, eyes still over flowing with tears. "Thank you," he whimpered softly.

The Mountain Pack offered Johnny a place to spend the night and he felt treated like he was one of them, though they now knew that he was a human. But human or wolf, he was treated with kindness. The next day, a blizzard had started to blow up the side of the mountain. Tundran told Johnny that he had never seen a storm as awful as this one. "It must be the Snow King," Johnny responded, "He knows I'm coming. I have to go!" All the other wolves looked at him in shock and they tried to convince him not to go. "Are you crazy?" "You can't go out there!" "You'll freeze!" But Tundran growled for silence. "It's Johnny's decision to save his sister, and we must honor his wish and remember him for his bravery and perseverance." He then turned to Johnny. "No matter what happens, you are always welcome here, human or wolf. You are one of the pack now, my son." Johnny bowed low to Tundran and Tundran bowed in return. Validel came up to them. "Be careful, my child" she said her voice full of concern. Johnny bent down and hugged the black wolf. "I will," he said, "and thank you." After one last glance at the Mountain Pack, the one family he had come to love, Johnny headed out into the blizzard to find the Snow King. And Rachel.