Alright, before I get into this wonderful, yet short story; If I do say so myself. I should probably warn you not to do nor say anything here.
Now usually, any kid would love to live in a place like the North Pole, where there's snow, and snow, and… snow. But after 11 years of living in the northern town (or rather village) of Winsvale all his life, Austin simply got sick of it. I mean, he enjoyed it for a couple of years. But assuming everyone has once been a kid, or is a kid right now, and as such like any other kid, Austin wanted to do something else—other than just playing with snow.
He was very extroverted, and always wanted to do something fun, which was represented by his outgoing look. An almost, always smiling face, and brunette curly hair, that in a way, was kind of styled, showing how playful, and free-spirited he was.
Our story starts with Mr.Olwen—Austin's father, and chief head of the hunters in Winsvale.
Looking at Mr.Olwen, is like looking at one of those men who just by a glance, you know they're just a chill person. With their humble look, and gentle smile, that always gave up a calming aura.
Though apart from that, you can also clearly see the somewhat uncanny resemblance between him and Austin. If you're someone new who lives in Winsvale, you would probably think they were the same person, but just from two different time periods, one from the past, and one from the future. And apart from the age gap, the only thing that really sets them apart was the fact that Mr.Olwen was really buff.
Mr.Olwen was packing up his gear, taking his bow and arrow, and a spear with him. He was heading to the door, and just when he was just about to open it, suddenly, Austin came down from the stairs, and called out to him.
"Dad, wait! Can I finally come with you hunting?" He said with enthusiasm.
Mr.Olwen, who had frozen in his tracks, and turned back, made a slight sigh, as he knew that this would happen, cause this wasn't the first time Austin has asked to go hunting.
For the past few weeks, every time Mr.Olwen was going hunting, Austin would ask him if he could join him, even though he knew he wasn't old enough. With his father being head chief of the hunting group. Austin thought he could use his dad position to go out of town. Now first, this might view Austin like one of those kids who use their parents wealth or power for personal gain. But I promise Austin wasn't like that. He just didn't even care about money, or power if it had nothing to do with him having fun. But with rare times like these of Austin using his brain, cause he wasn't exactly the smartest cookie in the jar, or whatever the saying goes, Austin thought it would be a great idea to use his dad's position. And the first time he did it, It actually, almost worked. Key word 'almost,' why? Cause Mr.Olwen was one of those types of dads who cherished his son more than anything, and would give him anything he wanted. Hence, he was almost going to let Austin join. But a father who loves his son more than anything wouldn't put him in a dangerous situation where he is most likely to die, (I would presume most fathers wouldn't), even if it means the child doesn't get what he wants, so thinking of Austin's safety, said no, though in the most apologetic way you can imagine.
Mr.Olwen walked up to his son, and went down to Austin's height, touching his shoulders. "Look, Austin, I know you wanna come, but; it's just too dangerous. You're still very young, and…I need you here to take care of your mom when she gets back, alright,"
"Alright," Austin replied in a sad tone.
Mr.Olwen left the house, leaving Austin—as he stood there sad, watching his father leave.
Austin now laid miserable on his bed. Suddenly, he heard a knock on his door, "who is it?" He asked with an apathetic tone, "it's me, Essie," Essie responded.
"Come in." And a girl—with long blonde hair, who looked about his age came inside his room.
Essie Banchelou was Austin's best friend. They always hung out together, even making it look like they both were the only friends they had. But, it was kinda strange for Austin and Essie to be friends, as they both were like the opposite of each other. Well for one, they're genders were the opposite, and Essie was more of a chill, and somewhat introverted girl, and unlike Austin who was a bit of a knucklehead, rarely thinking, Essie was very bright, always having a desire to learn. She knew more than kids older than her, and had something that most adults had never even come across in their life—common sense.
"Hey Austin," she said, but on noticing his sad demeanor—was taken it back, "woah, why do you look so down?"
Austin sighed, "my dad won't let me go hunting with him," he replied in a woeful tone.
"But, don't you need to be 20 or something to start hunting?" Essie said. Austin sighed again, "yeah, I know."
In the town of Winsvale, 20 was the maximum limit for someone in their young adulthood to start hunting. As a boy, the moment you reach 18, you'll be forced to do a constant, rigorous training for two years straight. So Austin saying he wanted to go hunt kinda made him look crazy, cause no one wanted to strain their body for two years, just to go out where the probability of you dying is near dang next to a 100 percent, making all that training in vain.
"Well, why do you wanna go in the first place? Hunting isn't exactly fun," Essie asked.
"Cause, I just wanna see what it's like outside, I mean, we've been stuck inside this town for practically our whole lives, don't you wanna see outside, and see the fun things out there? There's gotta be something better to do than play with snow."
"I mean, I guess it's kinda boring being stuck in town, but we stay in town for our safety. Not because we want to, but because we have to," Essie said while looking out the window.
"Yeah, but still, it's so frustrating," Austin said.
"Well, I mean, it's not like we can just join them," Essie said, and at that moment, Austin's eyes sparked wide open as he thought of an idea. He instantly stood up from his bed, "Essie, you're a genius!" he said.
"Oh, uh, thanks?"Essie replied, a bit confused.
"Look, Essie, if we can get into my dad's giant bag where he stores all the monsters he hunts, before he and the hunters come, then we can wait for them to go hunting, and finally see what it's like outside!"
"Austin, have you officially lost your mind? I know you usually make stupid plans and ideas, but this one has officially earned its number one spot. And what do you mean when you said, 'we?'"
"Essie, just trust me alright, this plan will work, now come, we have to go fast."
"No Austin, this plan won't work, cause it's insane, and you have to ask your grandma if you can go out, which we both know she won't allow."
"Then I'll just sneak out."
"Um, the last time you tried to sneak out without letting your grandma know, she didn't take it very lightly."
Before Austin even had the desire to go out of Winsvale, he used to be more troublesome than what he is now—sneaking out of his house when he wasn't supposed to, using his entire house as a battlefield to play fight, and trying to make a giant snowball, almost destroying his house. With the chaos he had been causing while Mr.Olwen was gone, his mother (Mrs.Olwen)—a tall, skinny, pale but pretty woman, would always come home from her job (attending the injured hunters), seeing that the her house was always in a bad state any time she left it, decided to call her mother (aka you know who, Austin's grandmother) to keep an eye on Austin.
Austin sighed at Essie's reminder, and was about to lose hope, blankly staring outside out the window, when suddenly, another idea sprang out!
"The window!"
"The window? What about the window?" Essie asked.
"We can use the window to get out, we can just jump out the window!" Austin said.
"Really, that's…not a bad idea?," Essie said, seeming a bit confused by her own thoughts.
She looked back out the window, observing the amount of snow on the ground, and saw that if someone were to really jump, the person would survive. "Essie, if you think this idea of mine won't work, then just watch," Austin said, as he started climbing on the window, and fell down—landing on a file of snow, uninjured, just as he said, "Austin, are you alright?" Essie asked worriedly.
Austin then stood up, "yeah, I'm fine" he replied—shrugging off the snow on his body, "hey Essie, come on, it's your turn now, it's fun, I promise," he said.
"Oh no, I'm fine, I'll just take the stairs," Essie said.
She went out of the house, meeting Austin in front of the door, "nice meeting you here," She said. Then they both ran to the snowy street full of people, and spotted Mr.Olwen sledge—immediately going over to it, and tried to get inside as sneaky as they could. When they reached the bag, Austin went inside first.
"Austin, I still don't think this is a good idea," Essie said.
"Well, you've never thought any of my ideas were good ideas, so what makes this one different?"
"Hm, good point," Essie said, then she entered the bag.
Now you might be thinking, why would Essie, a smart person, who knows what she's doing is dangerous, following Austin's idea? Is it just because their best friends, well, it's part of the reason. You see, Essie being kind of an introvert, lives a somewhat boring life. Sure learning is fun, and makes her happy, but Essie was still a kid, who loved some vigor once in a while, and Austin being her friend was just the person for the job. Now, she wasn't using Austin, as they were truly best friends. Plus, if things really get outta hand, someone has to try to tell Austin the don'ts.
The hunters finished drinking in the bar, and went to their sledge, riding off in groups of two, "hey, Essie, I think we're moving" Austin whispered.
"Austin, keep quiet, your dad's gonna hear us."
"But I'm whispering,"
"Shhh!" Essie commanded.
The hunters traveled a very long way, going through the cold blizzard snow. And after what seemed like an hour-long journey, they finally made a stop near an ominous, snowy, creepy, looking forest.
"Alright, let's go!" Mr.Olwen said to the hunters.
They all got up from their sledge, with their weapons, and gears—prepared for the dangers that lie ahead, and went inside.
"Hey Essie, should we come outside now?" Austin asked.
"Um, I think I hear the hunters are gone, so it should be safe." And so, the two came out of the bag, and finally saw what lies beyond their town. An empty world, full of snow, "wait, that's it?" Austin said with disappointment.
"Wow, who would've thought, it's really just snow out here, and for some reason, it's somehow colder here," Essie said, tucking her hand in her pocket.
"There's no way, I was going to wait like what, another six years of my life,"—"actually eight," Essie said, interrupting.
"It doesn't matter! The point is, I was going to wait... that long, just to be outside this place, that just looks like a piece of blank paper," Austin complained. Then he kicked the snow on the ground, which made him slip, and fall down a snowy hill—screaming.
"AUSTIN!" Essie called out worriedly, but when she took another step to see if Austin was alright, she simply became another victim, falling down the snowy hill as well.
After a while of sliding down, Austin made a bumpy, rough landing on the ground. He got up, dusting the snow from his body, and Essie followed falling down, with a bumpy, rough landing.
"Nice of you to drop by, what? Were you already feeling lonely?" Essie stood up, and dusted off the snow of her body, "don't flatter yourself, I didn't exactly have a choice, so where are we anyways?" Essie asked.
"I have no idea," Austin replied, then sighed, "just more snow," he said with a disappointed tone.
Essie, who was looking around, spotted something from far away on her left side, "wait, I see something."
"You do?! What is it?" Austin asked.
"Yeah. I don't really know what it is, but It looks pretty small from here though, so it must be really big."
"Alright, what are we waiting for, come on, let's go!" Austin said, running towards the cave.
"Austin, wait, come back!" Essie said, but Austin simply continued running towards the unknown thing. Essie sighed, and so left with no other choice, Essie followed Austin.
They eventually reached it, which was a giant ice cave about the size of a mountain. Austin looked completely stunned, and amazed at the structure, as he had never seen it. "Hey, Essie, what is it?"
"Well, I mean, I've only read books about it, but I'm pretty sure we're looking at an ice cave."
"An ice cave. Wow, well this gotta be the coolest thing I've seen. And here I thought this place was boring."
"Yeah, it's pretty coo"—Essie halted her sentence—"Austin, I know what you're thinking, and we are not going inside."
"What; what are you talking about? Who says we're going inside?"
"You, and your body language."
"I deny your very true allegations, besides, we've already made it this far,"—"no Austin!"
"Come on, I know you want to," Austin persuaded as he proceeded to walk inside the cave.
"Austin, no!"—Essie then sighed in annoyance—"so stubborn, why do I even try?"
Austin and Essie, were now walking inside the ice cave, looking around, with Austin intrigue, and amazement in his eyes, while Essie looked around with vigilance, mixed with a bit of dread.
"Austin, we have to go back now!" Essie said, scared.
"Yeah, sure, just let me see what's over there, and there, and there."
"Come on, everything here looks the same, it's just a giant ice, structured in a very cool way."
"Uh huh! You think the ice cave is cool, which means we should keep on exploring it!"
"What! That's not at all what I meant at all! You're putting words in my mouth!"
They both continued exploring the cave anyways, but they suddenly stopped in their tracks, looking terrified, completely speechless.
As in front of them was a grizzly bear, sleeping, though it didn't look like any ordinary one. It was very abnormally large. In size comparison to the bear, Austin and Essie looked like the size of a needle.
The bear's teeth were very large and deadly looking, that would even give saber tooth tigers a run for their money.
The bear's fur resembled that of flames—burning, as some of the ice in the cave looked like it was melting. In short, to them they had just encountered a monster. But this wasn't their first time they had encountered one, as they had met several others, though those ones were dead, or fried for food, so they didn't have to worry about it. But this bear right in front of them, was very much alive, living, and breathing.
"Uh… um, Essie," Austin called in a low voice, while slowly stepping back.
"Y-yeah Austin," Essie answered, stuttering, while also slowly stepping back.
"N-now I think is a r-really good time we go back," Austin said stuttering as well.
"G-glad you finally came to your senses." Though they were slowly moving back to prevent the bear from waking up, it proved quite useless, as they immediately opened its eyes, and though it was small, its red, dragon-like pupils made up for it, just enough to make shiver run down Austin and Essie's spine. But how did it know Austin and Essie were there? No, they didn't step on a branch stick while stepping back, or anything like that, it was just unfortunate that they encountered a bear right there and then, taking into account that bears can smell several miles away, and didn't help that this one was an actual monster, so the once sleeping bear, who had now woken up by their scent, stood up, and made a roar so loud and powerful, the cave shook, making them both stumble to the ground. They both managed to get up, and with a loud voice, "RUN!" Austin shouted.
They ran as fast as they could out of the cave, with the bear now chasing after them. Fortunately though, it was very slow, and using that greatly to their advantage, Austin and Essie ran as fast as they could, running back to the hill where they slew down from.
When they reached the snowy hill, Austin started climbing it, but quickly slipped down—falling. "Essie, what are we going to do? We can't climb back up the hill, it's way too slippery!" Austin said, as he stood up.
"I"—but before Essie could even say anything, they both heard a loud roar, and when they turned back, they saw that the giant bear had already caught up to them, as it was not too far.
"Come on, we'll go this way," Austin said, grabbing Essie's hand, and running in a random direction.
"Austin, do you even know where we're going?" Essie asked.
"No, not really, but since the monster is slow, we can go far enough so it won't get us. Look, I can even see some trees ahead, we can just hide in one of them," Austin said.
With the plan in mind, Austin and Essie ran up to the many trees, hiding behind one of them. The giant bear who had been chasing them stopped, as Austin and Essie were now out of sight for the bear. So having lost its prey, the bear decided to go back to its cave. And while the bear was going back, Austin and Essie were panting, hiding behind a tree.
"Austin, is it gone?" Essie asked.
"I don't know, let me check." Austin turned back, taking a peak. When he looked back, he saw that the bear was nowhere to be found.
"It's gone! Come on Essie, it's gone," Austin said.
Though not entirely sure if the bear was truly gone or not, Austin took the risk, going out of hiding. "Hey, I was right after all!"
"Right after all? You weren't completely sure?"
"Yeah, I had to take my chance."
"Of course, take your chance, we can always count on Austin Olwen to use his gut rather than his brain," Essie said sarcastically.
"Hey, but it still worked, didn't it?"
"Yeah, apart from that, I believe this is the moment when I say I told you so."
"I told you so, what do you mean?"
"I mean the fact that not only did I say not to enter, and explore deeper in the cave, but I also said that you should really watch where you are going, cause now we're lost," Essie explained.
"Lost? What do you mean lost?" Austin looked around, and after a few seconds, a certain ding to his brain was made with the realization that, "Essie, I think we're lost!"
"Wow, way to go genius," Essie said sarcastically.
"Oh no, what are we gonna do? We're literally lost in the middle of nowhere!"
Austin said, panicking.
"Alright, hold on, stop, I might know a way out," she said.
"Really? You do? So tell me, what is it?"
"Well, my dad always says if you want to find something you lost, try tracing back your tracks. Though fortunately for us; this concept can be applied literally," Essie said, as she was pointing to the shoe tracks they made.
"Ohhhhh, I see!" Austin said.
"Yeah, we just follow them, come on."
And so, they both walked, following their tracks. But Austin and Essie were about to find out that their task will not be so easy, as slowly but eventually, a rough blizzard came, making it hard for them to see.
"Hey…Essie, I can't see the track anymore!" Austin said, covering his face with his hand.
"We can't just keep going! Or we might lose our track!" Essie shouted, due to the loudness of the blizzard.
"Then! how about…! we look for a tree to lay on for a while!"
"I guess that's okay!"
They went to the closest tree, sitting next to it on the snowy floor, and eventually dozed off.
Midnight came, and Austin woke up, looking around, disturbed by the noise of growlings.
"What is that?"
He got up—scared, continuously looking around, but couldn't see anything due the blizzard, yet continually heard growling noises not too far from him.
"Hey! Essie! Wake up!" Austin said, tapping Essie on her shoulder to wake up.
Essie slowly opened her eyes, "huh? What is it?" she asked, still feeling a bit sleepy.
"Essie, we need to get out of here now! I think I hear monsters!" The word monsters made Essie fully wake up. She stood up—frightened, "monsters! Where?!" she asked, looking around.
"Well! I don't know! But I'm pretty sure if we don't leave this place soon! The monsters will definitely come!" Suddenly, the same growling noise Austin heard became even louder. Now both Austin and Essie, were now startled.
"Come on Essie! we have to go!" Austin said, grabbing Essie's hand. And just when he was going to drag them to safety, it seemed already too late, as they saw four tigers suddenly cornering both of them.
"So Austin, when you said you thought you heard monsters, you meant actual monsters, as in many, not just as in one."
"Yeah, of course," Austin said, confirming.
Essie made a slight sigh. "Great, for all the moments that your grammar is actually right, it just had to be this one."
"Well either way, monster or monsters, it still doesn't make it any better."
Being trapped, Austin and Essie moved closer back to the tree, scared for their lives, as the tigers slowly approached them.
"So uh, Essie, you don't happen to have a plan? Do you?"
"Well, kind of. But you have to trust me in this cause it's kinda risky. If we do this right, we might have a chance to escape," Essie said, warningly.
"Sure. I'll take those chances."
"Alright. The monsters might be greater in both power and number, but I'm pretty sure the strong blizzard makes it hard for them to see us, the only problem is that they still know we're here."
"Oh, so you're saying we're doomed for then."
"No, I'm saying the chances of us living aren't that low."
Then, without warning, all four tigers rushed at both Austin and Essie—simultaneously. "Dodge now!" Essie shouted. They both immediately manage to invade the tigers, though falling down. And with little time left, they immediately got up, stormed off running.
As they were running, Austin looked back to see if they finally escaped the tigers, and to his horror, he saw one up in the air, charging straight at him with an open mouth.
Instinctively, Austin tried to dodge, but he proved too late, as the tiger managed to scratch Austin's arm with its claws, and though he was protected by his jacket, blood can still be seen.
Austin, now seated on the floor, was softly groaning in pain with the fusion of the immense cold, and the tiger's scratch, with the tiger just a foot away, coming closer to finish the job.
Essie, who was just close to Austin, suddenly lost sight of him—due to the roughness of the blizzard. Realizing this, stopped running—looking around and hearing a tiger's roar, "Austin, Austin where are you?" She called out worriedly. And though Austin was in trouble, unbeknownst to Essie, she herself was in a much greater danger, as a tiger was slowly approaching her from behind, seemingly waiting for the right time to strike.
Essie, who yet hadn't noticed the tiger, felt a menacing presence behind her. She looked back to see what it was, but it was too late as the tiger already rushed at her with great speed, and was no less than an inch close to her. But then suddenly, Essie was pushed by something, or rather someone? Making her stumble to the floor.
Essie stood up, confused about what happened. But before she could do or say anything, a hand covered her mouth. Essie was scared, then the person spoke in a very soft tone, "Essie, shh, just try not to say anything." As soon as Essie heard that voice, her eyes widened, as she knew immediately that this was Austin's voice.
Austin was covering Essie's mouth, as they were hiding in front of a tree, with Austin's head looking back, watching out for the tigers.
The tigers regrouped, and unable to find both Austin and Essie in the blizzard, quickly left.
Austin—who was looking back, seeing this, and let go of Essie.
Essie took a slight deep breath, and looked back at Austin, "Austin, are you ok? What happened?" She was confused, and had a lot of questions.
"Don't worry Essie, I'm fine, and it's quite a long story, but in short, I managed to escape one of the monsters, and so we'll be fine from now; I hope."
"Oh, ok," Essie said in relive.
And so, Austin and Essie continued their journey in the rough blizzard. They walked and walked and walked. Tired, Austin lay down on the floor.
"Austin, what are we doing? We have to go now, we can't remember the last time when we did that."
"Yeah, I know, I remember. But you know Essie. If I knew monsters like those exist out here, I'd happily stay in town."
"Austin, if you knew anything at all, you would have listened to me from the beginning when I told you this was a bad idea."
"Are you still on that? Essie, you should really focus on the present, looking ahead to the future."
"Looking ahead to the future? Oh, I tried, but because of your reckless actions! And the scary, dangerous monsters we've encountered! I barely have any hope left that we'll even return home!"
"Oh don't worry Essie, we'll return home, but first, we just figure where we're gonna go from now."
"Maybe we can follow those giant pointy things."
"Giant pointy things?" Austin said, as he stood up—turning back. He squinted his eyes, unable to see what Essie was talking about due the blizzard, "what is that?" he said, as he saw that it was mountains, but hadn't ever seen, or encountered one until now, didn't know what they were. "woah, those are the biggest, weirdest rocks I've ever seen."
"Rocks?" Essie said, seeming confused.
"Alright Essie, let's go!"
"O-oh, ok."
They went straight to the mountains, and as they walked, the blizzard became less and less present. And by the time Austin and Essie had reached the mountains, the blizzard was already gone. "Wow, they're so much bigger from up close. Hey! Essie, you read books and stuff right? Do you know what these things are called?" Austin asked, curious.
"Um, I'm not sure, but…this might be what that book said."
"What book?"
"Well, there was this book I read, it was a biography of a hunter, and he describes this strange, but oddly mesmerizing thing. The hunter described it as a bunch of giant pointy icey rocks. I think he called it—mountains."
"Mountain?" Austin then chuckled mockingly. "I could come up with a better name in my sleep."
"Well, what would you name it?" Essie asked.
"I would call it—icy tops." Austin said, feeling proud.
"Icy tops? That's the stupidest name I've ever heard."
"Bet that's what your mom said when she found what your dad named you," Austin whispered to himself.
"What did you say?" Essie asked, thinking if she heard what she didn't just think she heard.
"I said I can't believe what you just said."
"You did not say that, you said something else," Essie said, pressing on the matter.
"Oh yeah, what did I say?"
"I don't know, you said it softly so I couldn't hear."
"Alright then, that's that, what you don't know can't hurt you."
"Oh really, maybe what I don't know can't hurt me, but it can certainly hurt you," Essie said, picking up snow, and throwing it at Austin.
"Hey, what was that for?!"
"You said something that even though I didn't hear, I knew it was an insult. And you know I don't take insults lightly."
"Then how about time you start learning. That's what you love to do after all right?—learn," Austin said, as he too picked up snow, and threw it at Essie.
Not to waste any time, already knowing what's gonna happen, they both started snow fighting—giggling, laughing and whatnot.
After a while, they soon stopped and laid down on the floor.
"I miss home," said Austin.
"Yeah, me too. I miss my mom, my dad, my little brothers, my house. I miss it all. But, because someone had the great idea to"—"Oh, come on, Essie," Austin said, tired of Essie still on the matter. He slightly chuckled—standing up, and dusting some snow off his body, with Essie doing the same. "Hey Essie"—but before Austin could finish what he was going to say, suddenly, a screechy loud roar then erupted from behind them, interrupting Austin, and startling them.
"What was that?" Essie asked, frightened.
"I don't know, and I'm not planning to," Austin said, as he went up to the mountain, walking up, much to Essie's surprise.
"Austin, what are you doing?" she asked.
"Essie, I don't want to stick around and find out what kind of monster is there, I think we've already met enough, plus this, um, what do you call it…mountain, looks like someone can walk up it, right?"
"Well, you're not wrong."
Essie walked up the mountain along with Austin, making a few slips here and there, but managing to get back up, "Austin, this is really dangerous. If only we had a stick, or two."
"What's a stick gonna?"
"Oh I don't know, prevent us from fa"—Essie suddenly slipped down—Austin, quickly noticing, immediately held her hand, preventing her from falling, then pulled her up, "see, why need a stick when I'm here." Essie sighed in annoyance. They then later rested next to a giant snowy rock. Essie made a tired sigh, "If we're lucky, we can rest for a bit if no monster comes trying to kill us."
"Yeah, we don't need to worry about that anymore," Austin said confidently.
"What, what do you mean?"
"Well, we're up this moon-top aren't we?"—"mountain, it's pronounced mountain," Essie corrected.
"Yeah, whatever, either way, the point is, we're all the way up, and the monsters are probably down here, so we're perfectly safe."
"Wow, I really don't know what's worse, the fact that you're wrong, or the fact that you can't spell."
"What, no I'm not! Prove it."
"I wish I could, but if you noticed, WE'RE LOST IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE!" Essie's loud voice made the ground shake. They both looked up at the mountain peak, and saw an avalanche coming fast at them. Austin, thinking fast, carried Essie—quickly diving away to safety, landing roughly on the snow. "Wow, that was close."
"Yeah, thanks for saving me, I guess."
"You guess?" Austin said a bit offended. "You almost killed us, that thank you was perfectly justified."
"Was it though?"
"Yes, now like I was saying, you can't prove that no monster could get us up here." As Austin said that, a large shadow hovered over them catching Essie's attention as she looked up at the sky, though Austin didn't seem to notice it.
"Hey!" Austin called. "Are you listening to me?"
"Austin, I think we need to get out of here, we're in serious danger!"
"Danger? What da"—Austin halted his word as he and Essie heard a loud screechy roar like the one they heard before, "hey, that sounds pretty familiar."
"Austin come on, we have to go!" As Essie said that, another giant shadow hovered over them, and a wind blew vigorously, catching both of their attention. "What was that?"
"That's what I've been trying to tell you, come on Austin, we have to"—Suddenly from out of nowhere, what looked like a giant bird's talon, came swooping in from above heading straight towards them, but Austin and Essie were able to quickly ducked—seeing the incoming giant talon.
"Woah, that was close!" Austin said, shocked at the unexpected attack. "So uh, Essie, I'm guessing this is the thing you were trying to warn me about, right?"
"Yep," said Essie firmly. Austin then a slight but nervous giggle, "uh, I think this is the time we get out of here."
"You think," Essie said, a slight bit annoyed.
"Alright, I have an idea,"—"does it have to do with us sliding down the mountain," Essie interrupted.
"How did you,"—"it's only something someone like you would come up with in a situation like this, plus, you've been staring down the mountain ever since we've been up here."
"Alright, well then, let's go," Austin said, jumping, and sliding down the mountain, screaming in joy, with Essie also doing the same (apart from the screaming part, though with a joyful smile on her face).
They slowly were brought down on the ground, "well, that was fun," Essie said, then they suddenly heard the monster's screechy roar once again, "yeah, but I'm guessing it's probably not the best time to celebrate." They set out running towards some unusually very tall looking trees, and after a while stopped to catch their breath, "man, is there anything out here that isn't trying to kill?" Austin said, tired from the chase.
"Well, theoretically yes, but with the monsters we've been encountering, it's most likely we won't be meeting one anytime soon, unless some big miracle happens."
Unbeknownst to them, the giant monster bird flew down right behind them, simply looking down at them—menacingly. The monster looked like a crow, with a long dark red beak, and bright green serpent eyes. Though they somehow didn't know it was behind them, but after about a few seconds or so had passed, they both realized that something was behind them, having that, he, she, or in their case, "there's something behind me isn't there," moments.
Austin and Essie, simultaneously slowly looked back up, seeing the giant bird, glaring intensely with its serpent eyes. The monster then made its screechy roar at them, prompting Austin and Essie to immediately make a run for it, with the monster right on the tail. The monster, wasting no time, quickly reached, grabbing hold of both Austin and Essie with its giant talons, which conveniently fitted their size, then It flew away, far into the sky. "Well Austin. If this is it for us. I just want you to know. This was all your fault."—"Oh come on."
"No, no, no. Ever since we both came out of that bag, only to see the outside world wasn't really all that impressive, but also only to find out it was…well, I wouldn't use the word impressive, but it was something. And that something would soon be the cause of our death."
"Really Essie. Even at a time like this, you blame me."
"What, weren't you that jumped out a literal window just to come out here?"
"Well I feel a bit offended. You make me sound like I'm crazy."
"Cause you are!"
"Yeah, but if I'm crazy, then you must be crazier, following me."
"A valid point, but unlike you who come out here just to quote on quote have fun, I actually do have my reasons for following you."
"Which are?'
"Well, I don't want to go too deep into it, but one of them includes trying to prevent you from making stupid decisions. And so far, I've failed."
"Yeah, tell me about it."
"What did you say?"
"Nothing. But either way, we're taking very long, HEY! MONSTER!" Austin shouted. "When are we going to land?!"
The bird looked down at Austin and made its screechy roar.
"Wow, it really seems annoyed. Annoyed! That's it!" Essie said, with an idea in mind.
"What's it?" Austin asked, curious.
"Austin, I know how we can get down, and if possible escape it."
"Really! How?"
"We just need to do the thing you always do to me."
"Always do to you? What?"
"Annoy it!"
"Well that's kinda mean, and I don't always annoy you. But I guess it just might work, HEY MONSTER! EVERY TIME YOU SCREAM YOU SOUND LIKE ESSIE WHEN SHE SNORES, AND THAT'S SAYING SOMETHING, CAUSE I'VE NEVER ACTUALLY HEARD HER SNORE, BUT TAKEN HER ATTITUDE, I'LL SAY YOU'VE GOT IT DOWN JUST RIGHT."
"Hey! I said annoy the monster! Not me, idiot!" Essie said madly.
"Wha… oh! Wow, maybe I do annoy you all the time?"
The monster screamed at Austin again at his bickering. "HEY! MONSTER! DON'T YOU THINK WE'VE GONE FAR ENOUGH! COME ON, LET US GO!" Austin said, while moving around, which annoyed the monster even more.
"Yes, that's it, keep it up Austin," Essie cheered on, seeing her plan was working.
"HEY! COME ON! DROP US DOWN!" Austin said, while still moving around, struggling to get loose.
"Austin, I think you need to watch what you say."
The monster, having finally had enough, released its talons, letting Austin and Essie go, falling down, as they screamed, being about several feet in the air.
"I told you to watch what you say!"
"I didn't think it was actually gonna do it! So what now?!"
"Don't worry! With the height we're in! There's a possibility we might live! Especially with the amount of snow on the ground!"
"Uh, Essie, I don't think we might even make it on the ground!"
"Why'd you say that?!"
"CAUSE THE MONSTER IS COMING STRAIGHT AT US!"
The bird monster who had previously dropped them—came back, diving straight at Austin and Essie, but this time with its mouth wide open, ready to eat them both mid in the sky.
The monster came closer, and closer, as they were just an inch away from entering its mouth. But then suddenly, before the monster could eat them, they both fell with a great force, then landing deep in a pool of water, slowly falling to the bottom.
The monster, who was close to eating, saw the water, then looked terrified, and quickly changed its course, flying away.
Although the monster was gone, Austin and Essie were now unconscious underwater. Suddenly and abruptly, Austin opened his eyes, then immediately closed it back—holding his breath, swimming up the surface of water—catching his breath, "man, talk about a near-death experience. Oh right! Essie!" he said, remembering Essie was still down in the water. Austin held his breath, then quickly went back down, with his eyes slightly squinted, swimming deep in the water. He reached for Essie, grabbing her by her hand. And just when he was about to swim back away, he heard a noise that sounded like a twisted version of an angry cow mooing, but in a growling form. Austin looked back, and though his vision was a bit twisted due to the water, and his eyes being squinted. It didn't take him long to realize that a monster was heading straight towards him. Scared, Austin quickly rushed, swimming back to the surface, but with him still holding Essie by her hand, his speed was slow.
Austin looked down, seeing that the sea monster was catching up, with his jaws open, ready to eat Essie, or rather her leg, as it was not too far from it. In his desperate situation, Austin threw Essie up with all his strength, preventing her leg from getting eaten, gaining back his speed, he rushed back to Essie, grabbing her once again, and finally reaching to the surface.
Austin breathed in and out heavily, then looked back at the water—seeing the monster was still on chase, quickly swam as fast as he could to shore.
Austin was able to make it, where he laid on an icy surface—still breathing heavily, with Essie right behind him, still unconscious.
After finally regaining his breath, Austin stood up, going over to Essie, and shaking her to wake her up, though it seems useless, "Essie, Essie come on. Essie wake up!" But nothing happened.
Austin's right eye, then slowly sheared a tear, with the thought of his friend being gone.
Austin and Essie continued their journey trying to find their way home, but this time, it was only Austin, as he carried Essie on his back. Was she dead? Or still just unconscious? It was hard to tell.
After a while of walking in the glacier filled, frosty landscape. Austin spotted a cabin ahead of him. "What's a cabin doing in the middle of nowhere?" he wondered. Austin walked over to it—seeing the door slightly open, went inside.
He took a good look around, and saw a fireplace still burning with a fire, as well as a table just to his left, with half eaten meat on it.
"I guess it hasn't been long since the owner left."
Austin walked up to the fireplace, putting Essie close to it, then making a big sigh. "Sorry for putting you in this situation Essie." At that moment, Austin felt a huge weight. The weight of guilt. Suddenly, he hears walking steps outside.
Quickly, not wanting to get caught by the owner, he looks around, trying to find somewhere to hide, Austin eyes spotted the table, and his decision that it was the the only and best spot to hide, he immediately carried Essie, and went, hiding under it.
While he and Essie were hiding, a tall, buff looking man, with a dull expressionless face, though looking menacing at the same time, holding an axe in his hand full of blood, enters inside the cabin. As he begins to walk in, he shortly stops in tracks, seemingly already aware of Austin and Essie's presence. He ignores it, and walks straight to the fireplace, sitting down by it, right, then drops his axe by his side. Then he spoke.
"If you're going to stay in that place, then how will you properly feel the heat of the fire?" The man asked, his voice firm, and deep.
Austin was shocked at what the man said, but also confused, wondering if the man was talking to him, having already known he was there, or was it someone else? But how could it be? They were the only people in the cabin.
The man then spoke again.
"You know it's a crime to break into people's houses. But if you're just looking for some heat because of the cold, I really don't mind it. After all, this entire world is nothing but cold."
Austin was now more than sure the man was talking to him. And so he decided to come out under the table, with Essie in his arms. But even when Austin had come out, the man paid no attention to him, simply still looking at the fire, then said, "if your friend's just unconscious, you can lay her down by the fire. If she's dead, I could give her a proper burial if you want?"
"Sh-she's not dead," Austin said, sobering a bit.
"Alright, if you say so."
Austin laid her down on the floor, staying far away from the man, but still enough to feel the fire.
The man still sat there with his dull, expressionless face, paying no attention to Austin nor Essie.
"Where're you kids from?" he asked.
Austin was alarmed by his question at first, leaving a moment of silence in the cabin with the
question unanswered, and then spoke.
"W-we're from a far away town," He replied.
After Austin answered, there was another brief silence in the cabin. "Are you lost?" The man asked.
"Yes," Austin answered in a sad tone.
"What is your name child?" the man asked.
"Austin."
"Austin. Do you mean Austin Olwen?"
Austin was shocked by this, "y-yeah, how did you know? Do you know my dad?!"
"Yes, your dad. Jack Olwen. Nice man."
Austin was at a loss for words, well not that he was at a loss for words but rather quite the opposite. There was just so much he wanted to ask, he just wanted to say them all in one setting, so he didn't know what to say, "I… I… um… who… wher… how… um… "
Then, he said the first thing that came to his mind, "excuse me sir but, w-what's your name?"
A brief silence once again filled the cabin. "Grey" he answered, "and that is all you get from me."
"What?" Austin said, confused.
"That is the only question I will answer. You get nothing more," he said as he stood, heading out.
"What, no please mister Grey, wait!"
But before Austin could say anymore, Grey left. Then suddenly, Austin was hearing the sound of coughing right next to him. He looked beside him, and saw that it was Essie!
"Essie!" "Essie!" He called joyfully.
Essie was coughing out water from her mouth, then slowly opened her eyes, "Austin?"
Essie immediately went, and hugged Essie tightly, "Essie."
"Y-you're…squeezing me!"
Austin let go of Essie, "sorry. I just thought I'll never see you again."
"Well, too bad buddy, cause you'll always be stuck with me."
Austin slightly chuckled, "right."
"So, where are we anyways?"
"Oh! We're in one of my dad's friend's house. But I actually don't even know if he's my dad's friend, cause he say won't answer any of my questions."
"Wait, did you say your dad's friend?"
"Yeah."
"But all your dad's friends are in the village. And this guy I'm presuming, just lives here in the middle of nowhere?"
"Pretty much."
"Something doesn't seem right. I think it's safe if you leave now."
"Alright, can you get up?"
"Yeah, I didn't get any injuries," Essie said as she he stood up. "By the way, what happened after we fell, cause after that, I think I just got knocked out, and my memory's a bit foggy right now, but I'm guessing we fell in a water, that's why my clothes are kinda wet."
"Well, you got that part right, but it's a pretty long story," Austin said, as he and Essie began to walk to the exit.
"You said that about that one monster we encountered in the blizzard too. When are you really gonna tell me?"
"How about when we get home."
"Or if we get home. But then again, if this man's house is right here, then it's most likely we've made some…progress." Essie stops talking, and stops walking, as well Austin, as the cabin door opens, revealing Grey, holding the head of a monster, though impossible to tell as it looked like it was tortured.
"H-hey Grey." Austin greeted nervously, seeing the unrecognizable killed monster in his hand.
"Hello Austin. Heading off already?" he asked.
"Y-yeah, you see, my friend Essie just woke up, so t-there's really no need for us to stay longer, r-right?"
"Really. But I hunted this monster for you and your friend to replenish your strength," he said as he held up the monster, which made Essie feel an uneasiness in her stomach—covering her mouth.
"Sorry Grey, but we'll have to take you off on that offer," Austin said as he slowly backed away.
"Oh, I see." "Do tell me Austin, before I do my did." "Are you as incompetent as father?!"
"What?" Austin and Essie were shocked by what Grey said.
"Answer me boy!" Grey demanded.
"Call me crazy, but did you just call me an idiot, but more than that, you called my dad an idiot as well."
"Oh, right. This must be so sudden for you." "Last time I told you I wouldn't answer any of your questions, since it would ruin when I wanted to cut your head off."
Grey words struck a sweat dropping dread on both Austin and Essie. "Haven't you stopped to think for a moment why I'm living in the middle of nowhere?" Grey continued. "You see, back at Winsvale, when you were still a baby, me and your father were best friends at the time." "That was until he betrayed me." "On one particular hunt, Jack left me to die… Rot." "Ever since then, my heart was filled with revenge. But since you're here, cutting your head would, for the moment, stop my quench of vengeance."
Austin was scared, but more than that, he was distraught. Austin had known his father for a long time, and knew Jack wasn't the type of man to leave a comrade behind to die. So nothing of what he said made any sense, and Essie was thinking just that. "Wait, hold on mister." Essie's voice got Grey's attention—turning to her. "You said that Mr.Olwen left you to die, and rot. But didn't even tell us how that's possible, since hunters usually bring injured bodies to get treated, and for the dead—bring their body back to Winsvale. Me, Austin, and even you, know that Mr.Olwen would never leave someone's body to simply rot out in the cold. I feel like there's something more to your story you're not telling mister."
Essie's words enraged Grey. Though you couldn't tell that much due to his dull, expressionless face, the slight down movement of his eyebrows, and menacing aura emitting from him, was enough for anyone to know that he was mad.
"Ah. Essie was it." "You kids have been very bad lately. First you break into my home. Then you try to leave, without me having to escort your soon to be dead bodies outside." "And now you speak out of turn." "Why, how rude. Let me teach you a lesson your parents never taught you." Grey said, as he tightly gripped his axe. Austin and Essie stepped back—scared. Then Grey without warning, lifted his axe, and threw it at Essie with a strong force. "Essie! No!" Austin shouted, seeing the axe heading to her. Though just in time, Austin pushed Essie down to the floor—dodging the axe in the process. Austin and Essie immediately stood up, stepping back. Austin slightly looked back, seeing the axe which was just next to the fireplace, and reached for it. "Stay right there where you are, or else…"
"Or else what?" "You are just one measly child. I should have ended you the moment I found out you were Jack's son." Grey said, slowly walking towards Austin and Essie.
"Stop! I'm serious, don't take another step!" Austin warned, but Grey simply kept on walking. Austin, knowing he needed to think of something, looked back to the fireplace, then placed the tip of the axe close to the fire, making it burn.
Essie, who was just next to Austin, was shocked at his actions. "Austin! What are you doing?!"
"Don't worry, just trust me Essie," he reassured.
Grey too was surprised by Austin's actions, but more confused on why Austin would do such a thing. "Foolish boy, what do you think you would gain by that? Do you plan to throw it at me while it is set aflame?"
"No, not you," Austin said, then threw the axe at the wall to his left.
"NO!" Grey screamed, rushing to get the axe, as it slowly engulfed the wall. Taking this chance, Austin and Essie ran to the exit, while Grey struggled to try and get the axe out of the wall. Austin and Essie made it out, running away.
After a while of running, they stopped to catch their breath, "I… I think…we made it… far enough," Austin said, breathing heavily.
"Maybe. But he's probably gonna come back, so we have to keep going."
"Yeah you right."
Austin and Essie continued their journey through the snow, in escape of Grey, and search for their lost home. But were unaware that something, or rather someone was watching them, and slowly but carefully following them.
After a while of walking, Austin suddenly stopped, and sat on the floor, then sighed. "Men, it's like we've been walking for hours, and still gotten nowhere. Everywhere you look is just giant ice and snow…"
"Usually I say we have to keep going, but for once I agree with you. This place is endless." "But still, what can we do? We don't even have a map to know where to go."
"A what?"
"A map, how do you not know what a"—Essie then made a loud sigh—"never mind."
As Austin's head turned around thinking that there's no way out of there, his eyes suddenly widened in shock, as he spotted something, "hey, is that what I think it is?!"
"What is it?" Essie asked, curious.
"Look over there!" He said, pointing at sledge track prints.
Essie looked at where Austin was pointing at, seeing the track prints, looking just as shocked. Essie went close to it, "It's a track print of a sledge!" she said with joy.
"Talk about luck. We can finally go home!"
"Yeah. When we get there, I bet your dad would surround your house with some of his friends so wouldn't escape the house again," Essie said teasingly. Austin slightly laughed, "yeah, I guess"—then slowly stopped laughing as his face made a somewhat worried look, which Essie noticed. "Hey, Austin; are you okay?" She asked.
"Yeah, just thinking about what Grey said about being left."
"Grey? You mean that man tried to cut our heads off?"
"Yep, that's the one. Do you think my dad would actually do something like that? Leave him behind to die?"
"What, no. If anything, I think the man was kinda lying."
"Really? What makes you think so?"
"Well, for one, the one about him having to die and rot just doesn't make any sense. The man looks as strong as Mr.Olwen. On top of that, didn't you see that monster he brought. I don't think I've ever seen a monster looking that bad before."
"Yeah, I almost felt bad for it."
"You see, no need to worry. In fact, now that we're talking about him, he's probably crying about you burning his house." Austin laughed. "Yeah." Suddenly, from out of nowhere, Austin and Essie heard a familiar voice, "is that so." It was Grey.
They both looked back, as they saw him, standing, with the same facial expression they saw him last time, though he looked a bit angrier than before. "You and your father are the same. Always ruining people's lives. You burnt my home, and now you mock me!" "I shall rip your limbs, then burn it, just as you burn my home!" As Grey said that, Austin and Essie saw as the giant monster crow from presumably last time, flew behind Grey, menacingly staring down at him, though he didn't seem to notice. I guess the bird was just too stealthy for even Grey, cause he didn't even notice it until it made its iconic, loud screechy roar, (talk about wanting attention). Grey looked back, startled by the monster, and before he could even do anything else, what looked like an instant, the monster ate Grey, then forcibly swallowed him. "Men, how big is that guy that it takes that much time to swallow him?" Austin asked.
"I think we should be worrying about more important things, like running before it eats us too!"
"Yeah, good idea."
They both ran the opposite side of the monster, but still following the track prints. The monster had just finished swallowing Grey, and saw that Austin and Essie were on the run, wasted no time, first making its screechy roar, then running for a bit, and finally opening its wings to fly.
It didn't take too long for the monster to catch up to them, as it opened its mouth, ready to eat them.
Essie was able to dodge, and while Austin did manage to dodge as well, the monster's large talon was able to severely injure Austin's leg, making him fall on the ground. The bird monster, seeing that it missed, flying aimlessly up in the sky, changed its trajectory, back towards Austin who was on the floor—groaning in pain.
"Austin, are you alright?!" Essie asked, worried.
"Yeah, I'm fine, just a little bruise, I'll be fine," Austin reassured.
"Alright, come on, let me pick you up, we have to leave now."
"Sorry, but I'm not sure that's possible. Essie, you have to go, you can still run."
"Austin, if you think I'm leaving you, then you're even crazier than I thought." The monster made another screechy roar as it was incoming, catching Austin's attention. "Essie! I'm serious, go! I'll be fine!" Austin pleaded, but it was already too late for any of them to leave, as the monster was already no less than a meter away from them, with its mouth wide open. Then suddenly, before it could eat them, an arrow shot the monster with such force, it was sent flying.
Both Essie and Austin were surprised, and confused about what just happened, as they looked at the monster, who was bleeding, and screaming. The pain prompted the monster to retreat as it flew—though it was struggling a bit, due to the pain. Then, Austin and Essie heard a voice that seemed awfully familiar to them.
"COME ON! KEEP SHOOTING IT!"
"DON'T LET THE MONSTER ESCAPE!"
"Is that?" Austin said, knowing just who the voice belongs to.
"Yeah, I think it is!" Essie said, with her face full of joy.
Austin and Essie looked, as they were overwhelmed with hope, and a hint of joy, as they saw a bunch of people not too far from them. It was the hunters. More specifically the group of hunters that they traveled with inside the bag, which included Mr.Olwen.
The group of hunters stopped, and Mr.Olwen, who saw his son, and Essie, rushed, and embraced them with delight, "Austin. Essie. Thank goodness you guys are okay."
"Dad, I… I'm sorry"
Mr.Olwen slightly smiled. "The only thing that matters is that you're safe. But I do hope you can see why I didn't let you go, and just how dangerous the world is."
"Yeah, I did."
"Alright then. Let's go home."