ISHI POV (Continued):
"Just drop me here. Go find her." Marshall groaned.
"I'm not leaving you behind. We are in this together!" I said with determination.
I don't know when, but my attitude towards the dog changed. I felt protective of him, like I am about Mika. Maybe it started when he helped save my life… or maybe it's because of how he has been taking care of me… regardless though, I am not going to let him die here.
I practically dragged him through the snow, I went the wrong way and had to double back. As we passed the body I noticed that the snow wasn't as deep up ahead. I headed in that direction.
I felt my muscles freezing up on me, I was getting weaker from the cold and from the injuries I sustained during the fight. I kept dragging us forward.
Just as I was about to collapse, a little girl appeared. I thought I was hallucinating.
She was about Mika's height, but clearly younger - maybe just came of age. She had large, sky blue eyes, her white hair was thick and braided, and she had skin that was so white it almost glowed. Her peach colored lips turned into a frown as she looked us over.
"Were you traveling with our sister?" She asked in a light voice.
"Your sister?" I asked, confused. "Who are you?"
I felt something drip into my eye and half of my vision was stained red, I had to close my one eye.
She looked at my clothing and seemed to have the answer she was looking for.
"You can come with us. We will patch you up." She said as she turned around and walked a few paces.
"Wait! We need to find our friend. She's small and has red hair…" I started to describe Mika.
"And is dressed like you? We already found her. Come along now, before you pass out." She said, waving me to follow.
Marshall was completely unconscious now, I covered his waist with what was left of his tattered clothes. I threw the heavy mutt on my back and dragged him along.
The small girl bounded through the snow like it was a field of flowers. When the wind blew, I couldn't even make out her silhouette, she blended in with the snow perfectly.
I struggled to keep up. I felt my strength fading and my vision was cloudy. I kept pushing on, however.
She led us to a large ice cave. We went past other similar looking people, all of them had the same color eyes, hair, and skin. She led us down a long spiral staircase made of ice. It seemed like this staircase went on forever. Finally, as we rounded the last loop, a huge underground city came into view. Everything was illuminated with light orbs so I could see the details of the city. The buildings were made of stone, as were the streets. The whole city seemed to be inside this underground cave. There were spots up above in the 'cieling' of this city that were made of ice and allowed some light from outside to filter though.
The city was crowded with people who all looked similar. They had white hair, pale white skin, sky blue eyes, and were slightly shorter than the average beast. They had small white ears on their heads and large white fluffy tails that resembled Mika's.
There were a few people mixed in who didn't appear to be the same, they were also white haired, however they were taller and their beast characteristics looked more like Marshall's. Once we got closer to the city I saw a large group of these people rushing through the streets, carrying an unconscious Mika.
"Mika!" I was so relieved to see she was actually here. I was worried they had lied to me when I didn't see any sign of her.
"You will see her soon." The girl waved her hand at some guys nearby who came over and took Marshall from me. "They will take your friends to get patched up. You will come with me." She said.
I watched as about 5 men, all shorter than Marshall, struggled to carry his massive body.
They have Mika, and there are a lot of them here. I have no choice but to follow this little girl's lead. I nodded in affirmation and followed her.
Now that I was out of the blistering cold, some of my strength returned. But I was still very cold.
"What are you, and what is your name?" She asked as she led me though the city streets.
"Ishi. I'm a leopard." I answered simply.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Kori. This is Pyochi Village, home to Arctic Foxes and the like. How did you find your way here?" She asked me.
"We tried to take a shortcut over the mountain." I decided to be vague until I knew their intentions.
"Really?" She looked at me incredulously, "No one has attempted that in many years."
"Huh? Why?" I asked. No one from Lashwood ever went to the capital via the mountains because of the terrain, but no one ever said NOT to go over the mountains.
"Because of the Chuti. They took over the mountain a long time ago. they have almost depleted all the resources up here. Did you not notice?" She asked as she peered back at me.
"Is that what you call that big ugly thing?" I asked her.
"Yes. That was an adolescent Chuti. You got lucky that it was still young. Full grown ones take a small army to take down."
"It wasn't even full grown?!" I balked.
That thing was at least 10 feet tall!
She giggled and nodded, "Yeah they get huge, almost twice that size. Our men are bringing the corpse back for materials; we can use that as payment for our medical services if you like?"
I don't have anything on of me of value, so I agreed without hesitation.
She led me though the center of the city. People backed away, stared, and whispered as we went by. I definitely stood out among this crowd.
We kept walking though a good portion of the city before taking a sharp right. Up ahead was a large palace that was built into the wall of the cave. It was elevated (like most palaces were) with large regal stairs made of ice to enter.
I had a little trouble on the ice stairs with nothing to hold on to. I was wearing these 'boots' Mika had made and they were very slippery on the ice. I nearly fell once which infuriated me.
"What are those you are wearing?" She asked, pointing to my feet as she watched me almost fall again.
"My friend called them boots."
"What are they for?" She asked.
"To keep my feet warm and prevent frostbite." I repeated Mika's words.
She giggled. "Frost can't bite you!"
I remember thinking the same thing when she told me.
"She said it's called that. She said skin exposed to the cold for too long turns blue and burns, then eventually falls off." I maintained composure in the face of her mocking.
"You mean the blue death? We have heard of it, but no one has seen such a thing in many, many years." She looked thoughtful before snickering and adding, "I like frostbite better."
I just rolled my eyes and carefully made my way up the stairs.
Finally we entered the large stone palace. It was rather plain, decorated mostly with large animal hides and war trophies. It looked more like a den of bandits than royalty.
We entered a room with a large fireplace, intricately carved wooden pillars, and a wooden floor accented with stone and animal hides. There was a large, long table near the fireplace. As we approached i noticed that even though the room was comfortably warm, the fireplace was only filled with round glowing embers.
I felt my leopard purr inside me, approving the increase in temperature.
At the table sat some older folks who were dressed in layered embroidered robes. They all looked very respectable. They were discussing something, but fell silent when we entered.
"Kori? What brings you here?" An older woman said, adjusting her spectacles.
"Noni, Greetings." She said as she bowed with a fist over her chest. "We found some people in the woods. Two were severely injured and are being treated. This one here is…" She quickly scanned my battered body and torn clothing, "Okay-ish?"
Wait.. did she say two were severely injured?
"Severely injured? What happened to Mika?" I asked in panic.
She waved me dismissively and was interrupted by one of the older gentlemen.
"Kori! Did you not think to have her treated as well before bringing her up here?" He bellowed.
She bowed again and said, "I thought you might want to interrogate her first, Nono."
The gentleman sighed and said, "Since you are already here, tell us what happened."
"As you wish." She stood upright again. "We were patrolling the perimeter when we heard a sister-howl. It sounded familiar but wasn't one of our calls. It sounded distressed so we went to investigate. We found a red female in the snow, unconscious and burning up. She looks like us… but different. I ordered them to bring her back while I followed the smell of blood. This one," She pointed at me, "And her friend were injured by an adolescent Chuti. I brought them back here for treatment."
"And the Chuti?" One of the other gentleman asked while stroking his long beard.
"They killed it, Nono. I had the men bring it back for materials."
"Good." He answered.
"What were you doing on Pyochi mountain, leopardess?" The old woman asked.
All attention turned to me. I copied Kori and bowed deeply before answering, hoping not to offend these people.
"We thought to take a short cut over the mountains." I answered.
"From where are you traveling?" The old woman asked.
"Lashwood. Heading to the capital." I wasn't sure how to address these elders, so I just tried to maintain a respectful tone.
"Lashwood?!" The old man said, "I thought they were wiped out."
"No, we are still holding strong." I answered, even though I was dying to know why they would think that.
"Good to hear it. Some of the finest artisans hailed from Lashwood." He seemed lost in a memory.
"How did you survive to make it this far?" The old woman chimed in, "There are no supplies or game for miles in that direction."
"That is better left for my friend, Mika, to discuss with you." I tactfully avoided the situation.
"Indeed.." The old man was stroking his beard again.
"You are lucky to have survived long enough to make it here. Kori, please take good care of our guests. Give them anything they need. I will want to talk to this Mika when she is healthy." The first old man spoke up again.
She bowed deeply before we made our exit, thanking them for their wisdom.
"I want to see my friend." I said as soon as we left the room.
"Sure, sure. We are headed there anyways." She said dismissively.
We were headed for the exit when a young looking male with large eyes and round spectacles came running up to her. She stepped away to talk to him. He reminded me of Isola; he looked smart and disheveled, quirky, and a little crazy. They looked to be having a very important conversation, they looked over at me from time to time which made me suspicious. I kept looking at the decor as if I didn't notice.
She came back and waved me to follow as the guy ran off in the direction he came from.