Terror Mountain was a place I had never visited before. The cold and the snow are not my favorite things. Being a Fire Bori, I like warmth and the cozy feeling of my underground home. So, why did I visit Terror Mountain in the dead of winter? To see my cousin, of course, who had just moved to the top of the windy mountain!

I pride myself in being a fair climber, but I had to admit to the difficulty of climbing Terror Mountain. I am young too! My cousin Girry was waiting for me and we climbed together, making our way to the top where his home laid waiting. An Ice Bori, he had much more fascination with the snow than I ever could. We were quite the pair walking up the mountain, fire and ice in harmony for probably the first time.

"How long do you think you will stay, Rynan?" Girry asked, his breath ragged from our walk. I tilted my head to the side and stopped for a moment to catch my own breath. Girry moved over next to me and sat down on a large boulder nearby. It was partially covered with snow, but the top of it was dry.

"Maybe for a couple of days." I replied, figuring that I could last a couple of days in the cold. How bad could it be? "When was the last time it snowed up here anyway?" I asked, eyeing the boulder a bit curiously. I often found that it snowed continuously up here, at least, that was what the weather forecasts always said.

"I don't think it has for awhile."

"Should I be scared we're going to see a blizzard or something? What about an avalanche? When was the last time you had one of those?"

Girry could hear the panic in my voice and he chuckled somewhat. "Yesterday." My eyes widened as he said it and I looked around cautiously. What if the snow came tumbling down and we were buried alive? I am a fair digger, but the cold might get me before I escaped.

And there was no one up there to hear us. The place we were at and that we were going to were completely isolated. Girry clapped his hand on my back and gave me a big smile, "Don't worry about it, dear cousin. Everything will be fine!"

I think Girry must have talked a little bit too soon. The snow began to fall, but we thought nothing of it. It came down in light flurries at first and despite the cold I felt, I liked watching them fall from the darkening sky. We had to stop a few more times before we reached Girry's home, but I didn't mind. I knew that his home would be warm and inviting and that a fire would be waiting.

As his home finally came into view, my smile became even wider. He lived in a cave on the mountain, but I knew that the inside would be impeccably furnished and homey. Girry prided himself in decorating, though there weren't many people he would admit it to.

"Well, here we are!" Girry boasted, stretching out a hand and waving it towards the door.

The snow had begun to fall down more, but we didn't notice. We were too excited to have finally reached our destination that we immediately went inside. As soon as I entered, I could feel the warmth from the fire and I closed my eyes, barely paying attention to anything else.

"What do you think?" Girry asked, intent on getting my opinion as he hung up his scarf on the coat rack. He left his coat on as he approached the fireplace and slipped into a comfortable blue chair in front of it. There was another next to it and I followed his lead.

"I like it. At least it is warm!"

We laughed as we took a moment to rest by the fire. Though, it was late and when we had approached the house, darkness had overcome the sky. The stars had been twinkling and Kreludor had been shining down on us, but we had been too exhausted to notice. Just like the snow, we ignored it.

Here, though, Girry started to yawn as he asked, "Do you want anything? Some hot chocolate or maybe some food? I know I have something."

I shook my head and smiled in gratefulness, "No, thank you. I think I would just like to rest here for awhile…"

The tiredness overcame me and I found myself drifting off as I stared into the dancing orange flames of the fire before me. I was finally warm and I drifted off into a dream... iA snowball flew past my face, barely grazing my cheek as it missed me. The cold texture felt even colder against my skin as I cupped another snowball in my own hands. Girry was standing so far away that I could barely see him. How did he get that snowball so close and throw it so far? The thought left me as I tried my best to throw the snowball in my hands the same distance. "Ha ha, you can't throw!" "Yes I can!" I replied angrily, kneeling down in the snow to make another, better snowball. This one was more rounded and harder. I cupped it in my hands, making sure that it was good enough to throw. Girry looked so tiny in the distance as I squinted and wound up for the pitch. "You missed again!"

He laughed and the laughter echoed on the mountaintop as I reached down for yet another snowball. As I stood back up, the laughing ceased and Girry was gone from his previous position.

"Girry?" I called across the mountain, my voice sounding distant to my own ears. There was no response by the lonely echo of my voice. I took a few steps closer as the ground began to shake and rumble and I looked up to see tons of snow starting to fall.

"AVALANCHE!" Someone yelled, though I couldn't tell if it was from my own voice or in the distance…

I woke with a start, patting the front of me to make sure I wasn't covered in snow. I turned my head to the side and Girry was looking at me with an odd expression on his face. "You were dreaming." He spoke, sitting up and stretching, "You woke me up. I think you were calling my name."

"Was I?" I asked, slightly confused. I thought back to the dream, but all I could remember was the avalanche. Suddenly, I was slightly worried. Standing up, I made my way to the front door and swung it wide open to reveal a high pile of snow in front of me, blocking the exit. Girry stood up and wandered over, yawning slightly, but hardly fazed.

"I guess it snowed a lot last night."

"A lot? This is feet of snow, Girry!" I replied as I began to panic. Girry only chuckled at me and stretched his arms up way above his head. I couldn't understand how he was so calm. We were on a mountain where it was always cold. How was the snow going to melt?

"We will dig it out lat-"

bBoom. Boom. Boom/b

"Now what was that?" I asked. The sound was coming from deeper inside the cave. I had yet to receive the full tour and I hadn't known that the cave went on further down into the mountain. On top of being buried in, there was a mysteriously loud booming noise coming from behind them.

"I don't know. I've never heard anything like it before." Girry started to move towards the kitchen, which had a wooden panel carved into a door blocking something. Girry moved it aside and revealed a passageway that only led into darkness. I could hear the slight plopping of drops of water, but that was all.

"Maybe we just imagined it?"

bBoom. Boom. Boom./b

"I don't think we did." Girry replied, stepping forward, "We should go check it out!"

"Oh no, not me!"

"Oh come on, Rynan! Where is your sense of adventure?"

I scoffed and crossed my arms, "It's hiding behind my will to live!"

"Suit yourself." Girry shrugged and turned back to the passage. The walls were illuminated from the light in Girry's home, casting odd shadows. I bit my lip a bit nervously, but I couldn't let my cousin journey on alone! Instead, I ran and caught up with him, doing my best to stay close.

"It's dark in here." I muttered, wishing I had grabbed a lantern on my way out. Anything to light the way further would have done the trick.

Girry laughed, "Stop complaining. Your eyes are good in the dark, remember?"

Girry was right, I had been complimented many times over my ability to see in the dark so clearly. But, this darkness mixed with the loud, booming noise we kept hearing, was scary. I admit it that I was scared. Girry was fearless as he trudged through the tunnel, leading us deeper and deeper into the darkness.

The booming became louder and I could feel my heart racing as we slowly crept up on whatever was hiding there. Girry went forward and peered around a cave wall, watching. Suddenly, his face erupted into a huge smile. He remained quiet, but the grin on his face told me that whatever was making the noise, seemed harmless.

He crept back to where I stood and whispered, "It's only a Feepit…"

I resisted the urge to laugh out loud. Feepits were gentle souls, at least to me. The Feepit may have wandered into the cave by another entrance and was banging around to get out. "Maybe we should help?"

"I think that is a good idea, Rynan." Girry replied as I stepped forward, suddenly unafraid and filled with excitement. I came around the cave wall slowly and looked down at the pink petpet before my eyes widened and I looked to Girry as if to say that he was completely crazy.

"That…is not a Feepit." I hissed, my body rigid as I stood completely still. The pink petpet hadn't noticed us. Yet.

"What is it then?" Girry asked loudly, causing the small thing to look up at them as it clicked its teeth.

"A Meepit."

A dawning seemed to wash over Girry's face as he finally recognized the petpet. "You know, I always get those two mixed up…"

I tried to quiet him, but he glared at me. I shook my head as I realized what he was going to do. "No." I firmly stated.

"Oh, he just wants to find his way home." Girry spoke, the Ice Bori completely oblivious to the stories that ran rampant around Neopia of Meepits. He stepped closer, ignoring me. He reached out his hands to scoop up the Meepit in his arms and I stepped forward, trying to pull him back…

"OW!" He yelled, pulling his hand back and out of the way. "It bit me!"

"I tried to tell you…" I started, turning to look at the bite on my cousin's hand. It wasn't too bad. "You just don-"

The Meepit was staring at us. His eyes were piercing and we were quiet as mice as we watched it. It pounced towards us and we ran, running all of the way back up the cave to my cousin's home without looking back.

"I think you should move." I panted as we reached the top and slammed the makeshift door closed behind us.