Many trainees wrapped their heavy cloaks around them. The day had dawned clear and the night's fresh snow dazzled with the sun's touch. As time wore on and hours passed, clouds gathered in the sky, turning the once blue heavens into a solid gray mass. Now, at two hours after sunset, a fierce wind blew, stirring up the fallen snow, and shaking it from the branches of the trees. A blizzard was approaching, quite common at the peak of Terror Mountain, but not invited on the night of a ceremony.
A young mutant Ruki had watched the gathering storm and felt a moment of foreboding, which quickly gave way to strategies he would have to use in the evening battle. He would have to use the snow and wind to his advantage, as he had trained to do so in the academy.
The Bum Rush Academy had been his home now for twelve years. He had grown up there from the age of four, learning all he could and training even harder. The secluded academy, hidden on the other side of the mountain, north of its usual inhabitants and tourist attractions, housed pets of all races and color. Few knew of the academy and even less were brave enough to try their hand at making it through the grueling training. This was not your ordinary two-hour training school; this was the elite of Neopia.